Kate Beckett - Detective turned Agent
by KrissaBelle7
Summary: Three years have gone by since Detective Beckett accepted Agent Stack's offer and left for DC, severing all contact with New York. Everyone has moved on with their lives, but what happens when an old enemy targets one of their own? Entry for 2013 Castle Ficathon. Amazing cover art by Angie(Dtrekker)!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hope you guys like this :) Chapter Beta by Diana(Dmarx) and Kellie(Freewheeler) who are both Awesome.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

* * *

It was slightly before eight in the morning when a chime sounded throughout the bullpen as the elevator doors opened on the homicide floor at the Twelfth Precinct.

Richard Castle strode out, nodding politely at a few officers that he knew as he usually did. He headed across the relatively empty bullpen, taking in the peaceful ambiance. In another hour or so, the place would be bustling with activity, but not right now. He could enjoy the quiet hum while it lasted.

He normally didn't come into the precinct until later in the day, but he had missed out on a crime scene early that morning – the call came in at three am - and Castle had just gotten back from an event at approximately two in the morning, so he told the boys he'd catch up with them later in the day. He woke up to a text from Esposito, telling him this was a case he did _not_ want to miss.

Dropping off his jacket by the chair set between the two detectives' desks, Castle headed to the break room for his daily coffee fix. Nowadays, he forewent picking up coffee before heading to the precinct. He hadn't done that since _she_ left.

The boys were setting up the murder board when Castle joined them, steaming mug of coffee in hand. "So, what do we have today?" he greeted the grim-faced detectives.

"Victim was Jenna A. Mays," Esposito began the rundown, pointing to a DMV photo of the girl, "Art Major at NYU. She was staying off campus - alone for the weekend. Her roommate had gone away for a few days, coming back early this morning only to find Jenna's body in their apartment. There were no signs of a break in, and based on Lanie's preliminary examination on-scene, COD was strangulation."

Castle looked over to the picture of the victim taken at the scene and couldn't help but notice that the victim was posed as though she was lying peacefully in a coffin.

He had a bad feeling about this.

"Did she dye her hair recently?" he asked, gesturing at the blonde in the crime scene photo and back at the redhead in the DMV shot.

"Roommate confirmed that she was still a redhead before she left for the weekend, and Jenna didn't let her know of any plans to dye her hair," Esposito replied in a somber tone, realizing that Castle was catching on quickly.

Blood drained from the writer's face, leaving him ashen as he swallowed before asking softly, "Do we know what she was strangled with?"

This time, it was Ryan who answered, "Reports came in an hour ago, since this was put onto the priority list. The victim was strangled with a three strand, twisted, quarter-inch, green and white nylon rope."

Castle staggered backwards, sitting against the desk behind him with a thump, putting down his coffee mug.

The silence hung heavy in the air, only to be broken moments later by Castle, who whispered what was on all their minds, "It's Jerry Tyson. 3XK is back."

* * *

"There's one other thing, Castle," the Irish detective started, "Jenna A. Mays? Her full name is Jenna Alexis Mays."

"It's probably just a coincidence?" Esposito added, although he did sound a little unsure of himself.

"What? With 3XK? No way," Castle's voice raised considerably in pitch, reaching for his phone immediately, speed dialing his daughter.

"Alexis? Where are you? Are you with someone? Stick with your friends, okay, we have reason to believe 3XK is back," he rattled off into the phone.

"What? Dad, what are you talking about? Slow down."

_Calm down, she's fine. She answered the phone, so she's still okay, _Castle thought to himself. He paused for a bit, composing himself and walking a few steps away to continue his conversation.

"Alexis, where are you right now?"

"I'm with my friends, heading for class. What's going on, dad, you're worrying me. Did you say something about the triple killer?"

"Yeah, we think he's back, and I can't share case details with you over the phone, but you're not safe. I want you to come home with me. Where are you? I'll go pick you up now."

"Dad, you can't- I can't do that," she told him, exasperated. "I've got an important presentation later today. Besides, how can you be certain that the triple killer's back? He's been gone for years, dad."

This wasn't going well. He knew that she had a point, and that he _had_ jumped to conclusions, but this was the triple killer they were talking about. That psycho had tried to _kill _him when his plan for revenge had failed years ago. No way was he taking a risk with Alexis' safety.

"I just- it's just a gut feeling that I have. Alexis, I'm not messing around, it's really _not safe_ for you," Castle repeated.

Alexis mumbled something to her friends. He couldn't make out what it was because it was muffled over the phone.

"Dad, I know you're worried, but I really can't just drop everything because of a feeling that you have. Was it a direct threat, or did you _think_ that it was a threat?"

Castle remained silent and Alexis took that as a sign, sighing into the phone as she continued, "Alright dad, let's compromise, okay? You let me finish classes today without calling me every half hour or so, and I promise to stick with my friends at all times, and I'll call you after my last class of the day and we can further discuss our options. How's that?"

"Are you sure you won't let me pick you up? Maybe you could talk to your professors, _I'll_ talk to your professors, see if you can make up your classes another time?"

He knew that she wouldn't take it, but still, he had to try.

"Dad, come on. We need to compromise. Please?"

Castle dropped his shoulders in defeat, hanging his head as he bargained with Alexis. "At least let me call you every hour?"

"I'll be in class! How about I call you in between classes?"

"Fine, send me a copy of your timetable so that I'll know when you're free."

"I'll do that right away, dad. I gotta go now, okay? I'll talk to you later. Love you, dad."

Hanging up, he turned back to the boys and asked them, "So when did you guys suspect it was him?"

"We had a bad feeling the moment we saw the crime scene, so we told Gates straight off. Since we didn't have conclusive evidence that it was 3XK, she didn't think it was necessary to call you in the middle of the night and send you into a panic. But, she did bring this case to the top of the priority list, so we could rush the analysis of fibers found in the strangulation marks," Esposito supplied.

"We're to bring her up to date when she comes in," Ryan added, nodding toward the Captain's office that had just lit up as Gates entered her office.

Wasting no time, the captain headed over to the trio standing in front of the murder board. They exchanged a brief greeting, and Captain Gates cut straight to the chase. "Where are we on the case from this morning? Are the results for the fibers back?"

Nodding, Ryan handed her the reports, telling her grimly, "Results came in about an hour ago, Sir. The fibers were a match. M.E. compared the ligature marks with the triple killer's previous victims, and they were identical too. Besides that, the victim was laid out in a funereal pose with her hands clasped in front. Sir, it's his MO."

"We may be dealing with 3XK, a copy cat, or it could all be a coincidence; but I want you guys to go through this case with a fine tooth comb all the same. We need to be able to account for the possibility that it might not be the triple killer. I need to report this to 1PP and the higher ups, check and see if there were other victims that the other precincts picked up," she stated with a frown marring her forehead, turning to leave.

"Captain, there are a few peculiar changes to his normal MO that we think may be pertinent to this case," Esposito cut in before the Captain could leave. Pausing in her tracks, she turned and gave them her full attention once more.

"The victim is shown as a blond at the time of death, but she was originally a redhead and her roommate said that she's never heard Jenna mention wanting to dye her hair. So she died a blonde but it was dyed that way. Oh and one more thing, Jenna's middle name is Alexis."

"And knowing 3XK's fixation on me," Castle added, "I think it's a safe bet that this might be more than a coincidence."

Nodding in agreement, Gates told them, "You have a point there. If this really is 3XK and he's back, you and your family are an obvious target. I'll place a protective detail on your mother and daughter immediately."

Castle managed to squeeze in a quick, "Thank you, Captain," which she acknowledged with a curt nod before making a beeline to her office.

The three of them spent the rest of the morning filling up the board with details compiled from interviews, CSU reports, the M.E.'s report, and an initial canvass of the crime scene. They also called for all previous cases related to 3XK to be brought up from storage.

Halfway through their morning, Captain Gates told them that the FBI had been briefed, and they would be sending their specialist on 3XK to take point on this investigation. The agents were due to arrive later in the day, and the 12th Precinct was expected to give their full co-operation in bringing them up to speed.

"Great, the last thing we need now is for the Feds to come in and try to pick up this case," Esposito grumbled after the captain left.

"Who are they to waltz in and take lead over whichever case they fancy? No one knows 3XK as well as we do. We know what he's capable of and what his style is. Handing this over to the Feds is just going to mess up the investigation," Ryan added, agreeing with his partner.

Castle had mostly been silent throughout the day, his mind otherwise occupied with safety concerns for his family, but he did finally give voice at this point of the discussion.

"I don't care who takes lead in this case, just so long as we get the bastard," he said darkly, "and if the Feds get in the way, then we'll just have to do things our own way. He's not getting away this time, no matter what."

* * *

As the day progressed, the boys scrubbed through video footage that had been collected. Unfortunately, there were no promising leads to chase after. Jerry Tyson was just too prepared - planning everything down to the last detail as usual. The stakes were high, and the tension riding even higher.

The boys were intent with focusing on their work, completely tuning out the rest of the world.

So, it came as no surprise that the arrival of the Federal agent was unnoticed by the two detectives and writer. The Federal agent headed straight for the Captain's office to alert her of their presence and report their attendance. With the formalities out of the way, Captain Gates led the agent to the detectives.

Clearing her throat, Captain Gates garnered the attention of the boys at last, breaking them out of their reverie.

The three of them stared slack jawed at the federal agent. Eventually, Ryan was the first to find his voice. "Beckett? What are you doing here?"

Castle felt like he'd been kicked in the gut. He knew he was staring, it was just…

Just… Three years down the track, and _nothing_ had prepared him for this moment.

Scenes flashed through his mind and he couldn't stop them: memories of their last fight, how the engagement ring burned with an even greater intensity, sitting back in his pocket once more after she turned down his proposal. How it felt to watch her as she walked around the loft for a last time, collecting what belongings she kept at his place into a too-small box.

Just before she walked out of his life.

Now, time seemed to be coming to a standstill as she turned her gaze to him after greeting the boys. They looked to Castle to be shell-shocked too.

The boys were turning, probably to watch his reaction. He doesn't blame them. God knows they bore the brunt of his recovery from the breakup. They'd be curious to se how this little reunion was going to pan out.

"Uh…"

God. He could barely get a word out.

Truth was, now that she was looking at him, it's like the years between, the anger and hurt had never happened. And he cringed a little, because he knew he was standing there slack-jawed, dazzled all over again.

She looked amazing.

Tired, like the work was tough. It's bound to be. A little older, and she'd lost weight.

But God, she still looked so good.

He didn't know till this moment how much he'd craved the chance to see her again.

"Castle!" Ryan nudged him none-too-gently in the ribs, indicating subtly with a roll of his eyes towards the Captain, who was taking in the scene in front of her, eyes narrowed.

With a flush warming his cheeks, Castle found his tongue. "Beckett, what are you doing here?"

Keeping her face blank, she replied, "I was sent over by the Attorney General's Office." Looking at their blank faces, she added, "I've been assigned to take over this case."

* * *

The boys looked to Captain Gates, silently asking if she knew about this information beforehand. Their own captain would not betray them, would she?

Captain Gates arched her eyebrow, as though daring the boys to question her authority. At long last, she said, "I wasn't informed of the agent's identity, only that they were sending their expert on 3XK over. _Special Agent_ Beckett's presence came as a surprise to me as well, but you know your orders."

The thinly veiled threat of getting bumped down to traffic duty if they misbehaved was there and both Ryan and Esposito unconsciously straightened up, standing taller.

They put up a professional front, but their minds were in a turmoil. What sort of reaction would a situation like this entail? Were they supposed to be happy to be reunited with an old friend, albeit by unnatural circumstances? Should they be angry with her for turning up without giving them a heads up? Were they expected to sweep away all the unresolved issues from three years ago just like that?

Satisfied with her detectives, Gates turned her gaze toward Castle and narrowed her eyes. You could almost see the cogs turning in her brain as she deliberated what to do with him.

When in doubt, employ the poker face. Castle quickly schooled his features, and Gates came to a decision.

She looked once more to the four individuals who used to make up her best homicide team, saying, "I'll leave you to it."

The four of them were now alone.

_Awkwarddd._

Beckett stepped in and took the reins of command, telling them in a politely civil tone, "My team and I have just arrived, and they're still sorting out our equipment and setting things up. You can brief me and bring me up to date on what you know so far, and I will share it with my team when I meet them. Tomorrow we'll regroup and go on from there. Okay?"

The two detectives gave a curt nod. Gone was Detective Beckett, leaving only a federal agent in her place.

* * *

A/N: Review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so sorry for not replying reviews, it's just being a really busy summer this year, but thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts for this story. Credits go to Diana for her beta skills!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Kate toed off her shoes, sinking a good four inches as her bare feet made contact with the coarse carpet fibers of the motel room. She rolled her shoulders, working out the kinks. Damn, today had been a long day.

It was close to midnight and Kate was just returning to her motel room. Going back to the Twelfth had taken out a lot more of her energy than she had expected.

Kate's mind flashed back to her phone call with Deputy Director Anthony Freedman that morning. Her happiness of being back in DC after spending two weeks in Seattle was cut short by the man's words.

"_Agent Beckett, it's Deputy Director Freedman. 3XK was flagged as a possibility this morning."_

_Kate's heart rate quickened. After so many months of dormancy, without any word on him, she was once more on his trail._

"_I'll let my team know. When do we leave, sir?"_

"_Agent Beckett, the flag at 1PP was raised by Captain Victoria Gates in New York. Your team is scheduled to fly to New York this evening. I take that this is the first time you'll be returning to New York since joining us. There won't be any problems working with the team at your former precinct, will there?"_

_She was going back to New York. Back to the Twelfth. All she could hear was a roaring sound in her ears as her mind went numb. Her mouth dried up, causing her tongue to feel swollen and heavy. _

_Her pulse quickened, and Kate could hear her own rapid, shallow breathing. _

_New York. The Twelfth. __**Home.**_

_No, it used to be her home, but she'd burned those bridges a long time ago. If only-_

"_Agent Beckett?" Freedman's voice cut through the haze in her mind._

_New York. 3XK. Right, she could do this. She __**had**__ to do this._

"_It's fine, sir. There won't be a problem. I was brought on for this anyway."_

"_Beckett, you were brought on because you deserved the position," he reminded her. "3XK was just the push that you needed to get on board."_

_Kate unconsciously grimaced. This wasn't the first time Deputy Director Freedman had said those words to her, but that didn't make them any easier to hear. Maybe it was because she had left the issue of joining the Attorney General's office unresolved for so many years. _

_She still lacked the closure._

_No, she couldn't let her mind wander – she'd never get out of the rabbit hole once her brain began its "what-if?" journey. She had to focus on the task at hand._

"_I'll prepare my team for New York."_

* * *

Kate shrugged off her jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. A quick shower and then bed, or should she soak in a nice, warm bath? Decisions, decisions. That's what everything came down to.

New York or DC. Castle or 3XK. Shower or bath.

Sighing, Kate chose personal comfort. She knew that she was going to go over the case once more anyway, so she might as well do it while relaxing in the tub.

Kate turned on the water before returning to the bedroom. She removed the rest of her clothes and picked up her tablet before heading to the bathroom once more. Shutting off the taps, she slowly entered the tub.

The water was hot, but not too scalding. Steam curled up from the surface of the tub, quickly filling the small bathroom in no time at all.

Kate sat there and soaked for a while; letting the heat from the water work its way through her skin and muscles. The tension slowly drained from her body as Kate relaxed against the back of the tub.

Picking up her tablet, Kate was glad to see that her team had begun uploading the details from this case onto their 3XK folder. Starting from the very beginning of this case, Kate slowly worked her way through the details, keeping an eye out to see if her team had missed anything from her briefing by Ryan and Esposito.

The victim was Jenna Alexis Mays, a twenty-three year old Art major at NYU. She was a single child with a good family background. Both her parents were teachers in Chicago with a stable family income. Her parents had found out about the news earlier that day and would be heading to New York tomorrow.

Jenna didn't seem to have any familial problems, but Kate would personally talk to her parents and interview them anyway to see if they could shed some light on the case.

Ryan and Esposito had interviewed her roommate and found out that while Jenna didn't have an official boyfriend, she _was_ getting close to a mass communications major in the recent few months.

She had a small group of friends, most of who stayed in the dorms on campus. The boys had brought them in for interviews earlier that day, but didn't find out much more about Jenna.

Jenna was pretty introverted, preferring small company to large, boisterous groups. She often roamed around New York alone, looking for places to sketch. On the weekends, she was usually found sketching in the parks or volunteering in the soup kitchen.

Kate made a note to follow up more closely on Jenna's volunteering at the soup kitchen. If she wasn't mistaken, the boys had also looked into that. Her team should be writing it into the federal database at that very moment if they haven't already done so.

She'd also get her team to canvass all of Jenna's local spots to see if anything popped up. That was the one thing she had come to appreciate about being on the federal task force. She had a greater access to manpower that the city task force could not afford. The boys had to keep their investigation focused to avoid being spread too thin, slowly working their way out, expanding the circle of investigation until something came up.

Kate flicked the screen jumping to the ME's report. She paused at the picture of the victim, the not-so-subtle threat issued by Jerry Tyson looming overhead.

She carelessly perched her tablet by the side of the tub as she leaned back, her mind drifting off to a certain writer. Castle seemed to be taking things slightly better than she had expected, or maybe he still hadn't gotten over her sudden presence back in the Twelfth. For all she knew, he was merely putting on a brave front to keep her at a distance.

Either way, she was a little surprised that Captain Gates had allowed him to remain on the team. Kate herself had doubts as to whether Castle could remain objective and impartial with a case that was so personal and close to him.

Hell, 3XK would always be a case close to all of them. Her former team.

Nevertheless, she should keep an eye out on Castle and maybe talk to Captain Gates about removing him if it turned out to be too much for him to handle. He would fight her tooth and nail over it and despise her for even suggesting it, but it was her job. She had to look at things objectively from a neutral standing as a federal agent.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Kate went back to the ME's report, scrolling down past the picture of their victim.

Cause of death was confirmed as strangulation, and the time of death was placed at Sunday evening.

Jenna's last contact with her friends had been on Sunday morning at the soup kitchen, after which she went home. That left a rather large window of opportunity for 3XK to carry out his plan.

She was found by her roommate, Brianna, in the early hours of Monday upon returning from her trip. The medical examiner deduced that there had been a brief struggle before her death, indicated by the peri-mortem bruises found on Jenna's forearms.

The bottom side of her nails had been scraped clean, so there weren't any epithelial DNA samples to test. The tox screen also came back negative.

Going over to the CSU report, Kate found that it wasn't very helpful. The place had been wiped down completely. It was as though he knew that there was plenty of time to clean up after himself.

It felt as though Jerry Tyson was taunting them, leaving them with very little to work on while they were on a tight schedule. Three murders in a week. Jenna was the first and only victim so far, and if they wanted to keep things that way, they have to build this case up fast.

There was no conclusive evidence that it was 3XK but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Kate began feeling the weariness creep into her relaxed body, making her eyelids droop. Checking the time, Kate was surprised to find that it was almost two in the morning. The water was cool against her skin – it had been that way for quite some time, actually, escaping her notice only because she was so engrossed with the case.

Kate quickly put the tablet away, not wanting to risk dropping it into the tub as a result of her exhaustion. Kate's tablet taking a swim had become a running joke with her new team.

She should head to bed and check the boys' notes on Jenna's phone records, bills, and the videos from the soup kitchen and the apartment's security camera in the morning.

Kate went through her night routine quickly, climbing under the covers in no time. She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Someone was calling her name. The voice was faint, but it kept calling her name over and over again. She knew that voice. It was the voice in her dreams; the voice that filled her with hope and longing. It was the voice of _home_.

Castle was calling her.

"Kate, Kate. Open your eyes, Kate," he called, over and over again.

She blinked her eyes open. Castle was sitting in a chair in front of her but something wasn't right. There was a sense of urgency to his tone.

Kate rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, chasing the sleep away.

"Castle?" she asked, confused.

"Open your eyes, Kate."

She focused on him once more. Castle was bound to the chair. Kate immediately sat up. What was going on?

Before Kate could go over to untie Castle, her ears picked up a distinct clicking sound. She swung her head to the direction of the source of the sound, body filling with dread.

"Not so fast, Detective. Oh wait, it's _Agent_ now, isn't it?" Jerry Tyson mocked, aiming a gun at Castle.

"You should have left me for dead, Kate, but instead you joined the Feds and came after me. You leave me with no choice – I'm coming after you. But don't worry, I'll save you for last, so you can see how everything plays out in the end."

He narrowed his eyes, smirking evilly as his finger tensed against the trigger.

"Say goodbye to writer boy."

A deafening bang sounded.

"NOOOOOOO!" Kate screamed, lunging toward Castle, angling her body to cover his.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter will be up real soon, just some final tweaks left :) You can follow me on twitter for news and updates amandaOtweets. Review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N : Beta by Diana :)

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

_Pain. _

She felt pain.

But the pain was _wrong_. It was different from the pain caused by a gunshot wound.

Kate opened her eyes.

She was in her motel room and it was still dark out. Castle and Jerry Tyson were nowhere to be found.

It was a dream.

It had all just been a dream. She had literally flung her body out of bed, ending up on the floor in a tangle of limbs and blanket.

Tyson didn't have Castle. He was safe. He _had _to be.

Kate fumbled for her cell phone, scrolling through her contacts for Castle's. Her thumb hovered over the screen, poised to tap "call".

She wanted to call him so badly. She needed to hear his voice, to confirm that he was indeed safe and alive.

But she couldn't. It was, what, four in the morning? Besides, they had barely spoken two words to each other back in the precinct.

Sighing, Kate consciously tried to slow her breathing as she untangled herself from the blanket, climbing into bed.

That dream felt too real for her liking. After so many years, the thought of Castle, let alone Castle in danger, still sent her heart into a frenzy.

Maybe it was returning to New York, or maybe it was seeing everyone again, or maybe it was 3XK's threat – but whatever the trigger was, her brain had been scattered and jumpy ever since the call to fly to New York.

Kate's mind flew to another conversation she had with Deputy Director Freedman three years ago.

She had been sitting in her car, about to walk into the playground and share the news of her decision with Castle. Just a few more minutes, and Castle would get to hear her news. She just needed to sit patiently for a while more as her call was transferred to the right office.

"This is Deputy Director Freedman speaking."

"Good afternoon, sir, this is Detective Kate Beckett from New York, thanks for taking my call. I've made up my mind. While the offer is very tempting and a great honor, I'm afraid I'll have to turn it down, sir. I belong in New York, with the NYPD."

"I'll be honest, I'm disappointed. Detective Beckett, I was hoping for better news. These opportunities rarely come in life. Are you sure about your decision?"

A small part inside Kate wavered. The offer really _was_ very tempting.

But she had made up her mind. Staying in New York with the NYPD was the right choice.

"I'm sure, sir," she said firmly.

Kate heard Freedman sigh as a soft creak in the background traveled through the phone. Perhaps he was leaning back in his chair?

"Give me five minutes and listen to what I have to say, will you? I want you, Detective Beckett. You have so much potential, and we can train you to be an exceptional agent, one of the top in the field. But you know that already. I actually wanted to get you on board to lead our 3XK team due to your background expertise on him."

"Sir?" Kate asked, confused. This had definitely come out of left field.

"As you know, his body was never found, and we believe that he is still alive. We've been keeping tabs and monitoring activities that we think could be related to Tyson. The closest anyone has ever gotten to him was in New York, and both times were by your team."

Kate knew all that, but what was his point? Where was this all heading?

"At least join the federal task force on a trial basis. We'll train you, and you can lead the 3XK team. Whatever you want, whomever you want, we will try our best to accommodate you. And once we catch 3XK or if the trail runs cold for 3 months, you're free to decide if you want to stay on or go as you please. Just don't turn down this opportunity without giving it a shot first."

"Whomever I want, sir? So I can have my team along? Even my partner?" Kate asked, intrigued by the new offer.

"Come down to DC for your training. In 3 months you'll be done and you can lead the federal team. If you still want your current team on board, I'm sure we can work something out with the NYPD. Regarding Mr. Castle,"

Kate sat up, straining to hear his next words in anticipation.

"While the federal task force rarely, if ever, allows civilian consultant, we will allow his presence on your team as long as he signs off on all the waivers. But you should keep in mind, detective, this time round, we're going after Tyson. We'll be hitting him before he has the chance to strike. It will be a lot more dangerous than before. There's one last thing you should know. Tyson remains unaware that we're on his trail, and we'd like to keep things that way, so the real reason for your recruitment needs to be kept to a need-to-know basis, alright?"

"I understand, sir. Can I have the day to think about it? I'll get back to you tomorrow."

This was even better than the job offer. She could go to DC and go through with the training – surely that will only help her hone her skills – join the Feds on a trial basis, and if she didn't like it there, she could always return to the Twelfth.

The boys wouldn't feel the sting of her three-month training absence if she could bring them along when she led the investigation.

And Castle – Castle would be a part of the decision making process this time. She'd bring this idea to him and see what he thought of it.

"Very well, detective. I'll be waiting for your call tomorrow. This is the best that I can offer you, and if it still isn't enough, we'd have to go for someone else."

Kate hung up, slipping her phone into her pocket as she crossed the playground, spotting Castle almost immediately. She made her way over to their swings, sitting down beside him.

She couldn't wait to share the news of Deputy Director Freedman's new offer with him, but first she had to apologize.

Kate remembered how her apology had been cut short by Castle and what he'd said about her keeping secrets and thinking about where their relationship was headed.

It felt as though time slowed down with each word being dragged out of his mouth.

"I've decided I want more. We both deserve more."

Their possible future flashed in front of Kate's eyes. Attending Alexis' graduation together, eventually getting married, growing old and grey together.

They couldn't have that if Kate went to DC. It would be too risky, putting Castle in danger like that.

He wouldn't be able to lead a peaceful life, going from state to state, chasing after Jerry Tyson's shadow. He deserved more than that.

He also deserved the peace of mind from knowing Tyson was finally caught; knowing that he was finally safe from Tyson's reaches.

"So whatever happens, whatever you decide, Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"

Her mind went black as every single thought she'd had flew straight out the window. Any possible answers died on her lips.

She couldn't bring him to DC. After all that has happened, he still wanted to marry her. He deserved better. More than anything, he deserved happiness and peace for his dreams to grow.

And she couldn't give him that.

"I…"

The words remained stuck in her throat.

She had to turn him down. She had to give him a shot at happiness.

But a part of her remained selfish. She wanted him for herself.

They say if you really love something, you should let it go.

Kate never really understood that line until that moment. She was about to make the biggest sacrifice in her life for the man that she loves.

Kate just hoped that he would eventually forgive her.

"I can't."

She saw the lights die in his eyes.

It was all a blur after that – putting on a mask, keeping her tears at bay. Collecting her things from his place, the hasty goodbyes and evading everybody's questions.

Somehow, she managed to call Deputy Director Freedman to confirm going to DC. Before she knew it, her training had begun.

Initially, she still called Lanie to keep in touch, but it was hard on the both of them because of how she ended things with the boys. No one apart from her dad knew the real reason she went to DC, and Kate had sworn him to secrecy. If she were to have a real shot at getting Tyson, she couldn't afford him finding out that she was on his trail.

Eventually Kate stopped calling Lanie because the timing was never right anyway. Either Lanie or Kate would be busy whenever the other was free to talk. Before they knew it, one thing had led to another and Kate had severed all ties with New York.

In a few months' time, the 3XK trail went cold, but Kate decided to stay on and work cases with the Attorney General's office since she had burned her bridges back in New York. She was focused and determined, solving complex cases. Special Agent Kate Beckett quickly became a rising star. Before she knew it, three years had gone by.

* * *

That was it. She needed to cut short her trip down memory lane. Kate picked up her tablet to check on her team's sleeping arrangement. Perfect.

She collected her phone and keys, threw on a robe and padded quietly two doors down the empty corridor.

Kate knocked on the door lightly – he had always been a light sleeper. Soon enough, the door opened.

"Kate?"

He had never turned her away before and Kate was counting on that. She needed a distraction – something to keep her mind occupied.

Wordlessly Kate stepped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

* * *

A/N: Review? Pretty please? :)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Huge thanks to Diana not only for her beta skills but also for encouraging me to continue working on the next chapters even when my confidence took a huge dip.

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Special Agent Kate Beckett was overseeing her team unload their equipment when the yellow cab pulled up to the curb in front of the 12th Precinct, dropping off one ruggedly handsome author. He hadn't noticed her presence yet, and Kate took that opportunity to study his profile.

He looked older – some grey strands of hair had begun showing more prominently at the top and his hair seemed thinner. His cheeks were slightly more sunken in, making his cheekbones more prominent than before. His posture belayed the weariness of his busy life slowly catching up with his age. Kate saw it in the way his shoulders sagged, as though the burden he carried was getting too heavy.

She must have been staring too long, because Castle swung his head around as though he could feel her eyes on him, which he probably could.

Their eyes met.

Kate was the first to drop her gaze, the guilt from her activities that morning causing her ears to heat, turning pink at the tips.

_Cut it out, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. He doesn't know anything,_ Kate thought to herself.

She lifted her head again to look at him. Castle seemed flustered, as though he didn't mean to be noticed by her. Indecision plagued him, and Kate could read it clearly on his face.

Deciding to put him out of his misery, she walked the few steps over to join him.

"Morning, I'll see you upstairs? I've just got to make sure all our equipment are accounted for before we can set up upstairs," she said, gesturing back at her team with her head.

"Sure, Ka- Beckett. I'll see you upstairs."

Watching him walk awkwardly away, Kate couldn't help but feel the pang of disappointment when she noticed his empty hands. He didn't bring any coffee.

* * *

Castle entered the lobby, jabbing the "up" button multiple times as he waited for the elevator to arrive.

_Hurry up, hurry up,_ he thought, bouncing from on foot to the other, constantly transferring his weight in an attempt to burn off the nervous energy.

It had been a full day since he'd seen her, but it still hadn't been ample time for him to absorb that fact and become acquainted with his new circumstances. Their conversation on the sidewalk had been awkward enough; he did not need to find out how they would cope being in the same elevator.

There was a time when he'd have done anything to have her trapped in the same elevator alone with him. But now, just the thought of being alone with her made his stomach twist and knot, and it wasn't in the good way. Kind of felt like indigestion.

Riding the elevator up to the homicide floor, Castle wondered if he should forgo coffee this morning. Kate's presence alone had reduced him to a jittery pile of nerves; how would he cope with the added caffeine in his system?

But somewhere along the five years of bringing coffee for Detective Beckett, Castle too, had become addicted to the drink. His day just didn't feel right without the wake up kick from his daily dose of caffeine in the morning. In the early days following Kate's departure, he had tried bringing three cups of coffee to the precinct. But, Ryan always seemed to have with him some detoxifying brew or a new concoction that Jenny was trying out.

And so he began bringing two cups of coffee every morning, but Esposito just wasn't that big a coffee fan and didn't want Castle to go through the hassle. Besides, that was his ritual with another detective, and Esposito found it a little weird to have Castle greet him with a cup of coffee every morning. In spite of Castle's insistence that it was quite all right, Esposito still felt as though he was imposing.

Eventually he stopped picking up coffee altogether, opting to fix his own cup of Joe in the precinct's break room instead. And so a new ritual had begun.

In a surprising streak of stubbornness, Castle was determined to stick to his new ritual. He didn't want Kate's return to have any kind of effect on him, so he greeted the boys and marched into the break room to fix a cup of coffee, steadfastedly ignoring the way his hand trembled as he gripped the mug.

By the time Castle had adequately composed himself, a small group had gathered around the conference room. It seemed that Beckett and her team of federal agents had begun setting up their equipment.

A small group of officers from the Twelfth stood nearby – they were probably additional manpower that Captain Gates had volunteered for the Feds' disposal. Some of them were exchanging greetings with Beckett while others hung close by, discreetly observing how things were going to play out. It seemed as though most people were still on the fence, unsure of how to treat her.

Castle could understand where they came from. Getting the federal government involved was an insult to them; it was as though they didn't think that the New York Police Department was capable of running this investigation. That was reason enough to dislike any agent. On the other hand, Beckett used to be one of them, and she was well liked and quite popular in the Twelfth. It was a rather perplexing conundrum.

Castle headed over, hearing Beckett introduce the boys and some officers to her new team as the agents plugged in their equipment and waited for their systems to begin running.

Castle stood with the boys as he heard Beckett introducing Agents Cooper, Lee, Dom, and Grey.

"New case, boss. Lookin' tired?"

Castle swung his head to look at the agent who said that as the others began chuckling softly.

Agent Cooper seemed content to continue tapping away on his laptop as another member of their team, probably Agent Lee, continued the teasing.

"Yeah, boss. How's the tablet? Do you need me to file for a replacement?"

Looking at Beckett, Castle noticed the dark circles under her eyes, the concealer she had applied not quite doing its job.

"Shut it, Lee, before I file to replace you."

A small corner of her lips tugged up, so he knew that she was joking. The rolling of her eyes told him that this probably wasn't the first time it had happened. An inside joke, maybe?

"Wonder what that's about," Ryan murmured to Esposito, who in turn shrugged and crossed his arms in front, taking a defensive stance.

_Hmm, I guess he doesn't like how the dynamic has changed, or how well Beckett is getting along with her new team,_ Castle deduced.

Agent Dom must have heard Ryan though, because he shot a questioning look at Beckett, silently asking her permission to share the joke with the detectives. By then it was only the eight of them still in the room, so Beckett shrugged and told him, "It's not that good a story anyway."

Dom grinned.

"It's Ryan, right?" he asked, continuing, "It's not that good a story, but it's still pretty funny. See, Beckett has a tendency to file for new tablets especially when we get new cases or complex cases. Unlike normal people, she works all the time. When we get tired, we end up falling asleep on our desk or in the middle of dinner. Beckett ends up taking her tablet for a swim. It took two months and six tablets before she finally admitted that she's dunked her tablet into the tub each time she falls asleep reading up cases while she soaks in the bath."

"Well, she _claims_ to be reading up cases anyway," Cooper added, the mild implication that Beckett might be watching other kinds of videos while in the bath sending Lee and Grey into another chuckling fit.

"That's what Dom's for, right?" Lee said, waggling his eyebrows at Dom.

Dom's mouth shut into a straight line as he frowned while Cooper and Grey wore matching expressions of shock. Beckett was, in turn, sending daggers through her glare at Lee.

Surprised at their lack of response, Lee asked, "What? What did I say?"

"Shut it, Lee," Dom muttered, walking away to login on one of the computers.

Lee swept his gaze around the room, looking around at the others' faces to see if they, too, were mad at him. Spotting Castle, he exclaimed, "Hey, you look kinda familiar! Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Richard Castle, I consult with the NYPD. Agent Beckett," he said awkwardly, the words feeling wrong to him, "didn't get the chance to introduce me yet."

"As in Richard Castle the author? Hey, I've read your Nikki Heat books! I- Ohhhhh," he trailed off as realization dawned upon his face. Looking nervously back at Beckett and his team, Lee stammered an apology.

"I- I'm so- I didn't realize… Sorry, boss. I'll go check on our network. We're good to go once it's secure."

He scurried away, hanging his head in shame as his cheeks stained pink. Castle could almost picture him as a fox, slinking away in defeat with his tail between his legs.

* * *

Clearing her throat, Beckett announced, "Let's get down to business, shall we?" She couldn't believe Lee could let slip something as stupid as that. Surely he should have known better than to try and pull that stunt in front of her old team.

She could tell from the subtle nudges between Ryan and Esposito that they had caught on to the Dom thing, or at least, they suspected that something was up. Knowing them, they would investigate it on their own, trying to get information from her team.

In that case, she'd just have to keep them occupied and too busy to go around minding other people's business. Besides, she trusted that no one on her team would dare to tell the boys after she deals out Lee's punishment as a warning.

Turning to the boys, she asked, "Anything in from this morning?"

"Do you mind being a little more specific, _Agent Beckett?"_

Kate felt taken back. She hadn't expected the biting tone Esposito had employed. Three years ago the boys would have just reported any new findings the moment they were discovered. Now she was expected to be more _specific_? Confused, she asked, "Erm, okay then. Any leads on the hair dye used? What about her laptop or mobile? Are the techs done with them? How about that boy she was getting close to, Sam, was it? Is he coming in for questioning today? Who's contacting Jenna's parents to confirm their arrival?"

"Nothing useful, no new leads, and don't you have people to do that for you?"

Kate arched an eyebrow, staring unfazed at Esposito's rudeness. Seems like she might be getting a slight attitude problem from the detective.

"Care to elaborate, detective?"

Esposito stared blankly back at her, the two of them in a staring showdown – a power contest. Ryan and Castle stared at Esposito in shock as he gave a non-committal shrug.

"You Feds want to come in here with your fancy gadgets and your smart agents, take over _our_ case, go ahead. I gave you the details yesterday and co-operated, that's all I have to do. I'm sure you're more than capable of taking over from here, _Special Agent."_

Okay, Kate had underestimated his anger toward her. She was in store for more than a _slight_ attitude problem.

Thankfully, Ryan quickly cut in.

"Erm, what he meant to say was the hair dye was a bust. We traced it back to the brand and manufacturer, but it's just too common and widely distributed, so no leads there. Techs are done with her phone, but nothing much on there. Just your average twenty-something year old's mobile. Her laptop's still with tech though, since it's spoiled. It hasn't been used in quite a few days, but the techs are still working on getting more info off of it. We did find out that she shared a vlog with her roommate, so there's that to go through."

Consulting the sheaf of papers in his hands, Ryan continued. "Sam's coming in for questioning at ten, while Jenna's parents are due to arrive at eleven. We still haven't arranged for someone to meet them because we weren't sure if you wanted to do that instead."

"Thanks, Ryan," Kate said, relieved that he could still remain civil with her and treat her normally. "Castle, anything to add? Any theories?" she asked, making an effort to keep him in the loop.

"Ehh, no, nothing at this point."

"Alright then. Lee, are we up?"

Upon getting confirmation from Lee that their system was good to go, Kate went straight to business.

"We don't have confirmation that 3XK is behind all this, but we'll keep the security detail provided from the Twelfth on Alexis and Martha until this whole thing blows over. While we are currently working under the assumption that Tyson's behind this, we don't want to miss out any other possible suspects.

"So, I want you boys to work this case like any other normal case, see if it might have been just a coincidence. Also, can you arrange to have someone meet Jenna's parents when they arrive? Let me know when they're at the precinct, I want to personally talk to them."

Ryan nodded to indicate he was listening, jotting down notes in his little notepad while Esposito stood there silently with his arms crossed.

"Lee, request for more manpower, get some officers from the Twelfth if you need more. I want you to canvass every single one of Jenna's hangout spots. Talk to the regulars there; find out when she'd last been there and whom she speaks to. Pull up old footage from traffic cams and that sort of thing if you need to. I want this done by the afternoon."

"What, the report we gave you yesterday not good enough now?" Esposito interrupted.

What was wrong with Esposito? She didn't need to explain her decisions to him. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath to calm herself before replying him. "The report was good, but the NYPD does not have the resources to canvass such a large area. Tyson studies his victims beforehand, gets to know them before planning his murder, so if there was a chance for him to strike a conversation with our victim, I want to know how, where, and when."

Beckett dismissed his interruption by turning to her agents and continuing her instructions.

"Cooper, he had access to her apartment. I want to know how, so look for an accomplice. The list of owners to the other units should be in our system already, so I want you to go through them and find out if one of them worked for Tyson. Grey, work with him. Her laptop was spoiled, so she might have looked for someone to repair it. Check and see if there were other opportunities for 3XK. We know he likes to pose as a repairman or security guard, so check that out at the soup kitchen as well. Go through her vlog, see if we can find out more about her life.

"Dom, you're coming with me to the apartment. I want to see the crime scene for myself and talk to the rest of the people there. Ryan, Esposito, start interviewing Sam if he comes in before I return. Everyone know what they're doing?" Beckett asked, glancing around her combined team. She was greeted by a sea of nods. Only Castle looked a little lost.

Crap, she'd forgotten about him.

"Castle, you coming along to the crime scene?" she asked, trying to be polite while giving him the option to choose between staying or leaving.

After a beat of indecision, he nodded at her, saying, "Sure, I haven't seen it anyway."

Everyone began dispersing, but Kate called out to Esposito.

"Hey Espo, a word in private?"

Without waiting for his response, she turned and headed into the break room. It was thankfully empty, so she turned to face the Hispanic detective that had followed behind her.

"Look, I know that you're mad at me but I expect you to put personal things aside and act professional while we're on this case. Like it or not, we're working this case together, and I've been placed in charge, so no more stunts like just now or I'll have to report you to Gates. Got it?"

"Sure thing, boss. Whatever you say," he replied, a tinge of sarcasm coloring his words. Kate turned to leave before rolling her eyes. She wasn't sure if his behavior was going to improve but at least she'd given him a warning in private.

Now she was off to visit the crime scene with Dom and Castle in tow. Great.

* * *

A/N: More case stuff coming up, but would you guys prefer a short break from the case? Cos I do want to develop the characters as well, but based on the reviews from the previous chapter, a lot of you guys hated it. So please review and leave me your thoughts?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Few things I'd like to mention here. My intention for the whole coffee thing in the previous chapter was to show how Castle has moved on and gotten over his old ritual, the focus isn't on Beckett's disappointment. I also wanted to show how Kate has taken a step back in her personal life since leaving NY i.e. her arrangement with Dom. Lastly, I know the story isn't developing as quickly as most readers expected, and if my story isn't your cup of tea, then thanks for reading it up till this point, but you're free to stop reading at any time. To the rest of you still sticking with this story, thanks for your patience! As always, beta done by Diana.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

* * *

The car ride to Jenna's apartment was awkward to say the least. Leaving the precinct building, the three of them walked toward Beckett's federal-issued vehicle and stood awkwardly around it. Both Castle and Dom had headed for the passenger door up front at the same time.

After a moment of indecision, Dom called shotgun.

Luckily Jenna's apartment wasn't that far away from the precinct. Dom made a few poor attempts at small talk, but neither Castle nor Beckett were very inclined to keep the conversation going.

Castle opened his mouth quite a few times, questions burning on the tip of his tongue, only to change his mind at the last moment, choosing to remain silent. Thoughts of Alexis' safety plagued his mind.

They got into another spat when she returned to the loft last night. After Castle had explained the case to his daughter, she agreed to take precautions, but she wasn't going to "stop living my life because of the fear." Naturally, this did not sit well with Castle, the ever-protective dad.

Castle had wanted to hire additional security for his daughter but she had refused it, saying that the protective detail from the NYPD was sufficient. Their argument in the morning had left Castle heading to the precinct in a less than happy mood. From then on, his morning just kept going downhill.

And now, he was stuck in the car with Dom and Beckett, seemingly tiptoeing on eggshells around each other.

_Screw it, might as well get rid of the elephant in the room._

"So, Dom. You and Beckett, huh?"

Castle noticed how both their bodies tensed up as Dom sat a little straighter, glancing sideways at Beckett. "Uhhh…"

She gripped the steering wheel, knuckles turning white.

"Castle," she started, a frown marring her forehead, "it's not- we're… not… in a relationship."

"Really? What does Dom have to say?" Castle asked, redirecting the conversation back to Dom.

"I… don't feel comfortable talking about this. What Beckett said is true – we're not together. We don't have feelings for each other."

"But you're attracted to each other?"

Castle's question was met by silence.

"Or are you too afraid to admit that you like her, because you're scared she's going to run away. Is that why you're not in a _relationship?" _ Castle spat the last word out hatefully. "At least you're smarter than I was, Dom, cutting your losses while it's still early."

"Castle, why are you doing this?" she asked softly.

"Why shouldn't I? Why did you disappear off to DC? I'm doing this because I feel like it. Do I need more reason? _You_ didn't."

"Castle, please-"

"No. You can't even admit that you're in a relationship! Tell me, how long do you plan on stringing Dom along?"

"Fine! You want the truth? We're friends with benefits, okay! There, I've said it. Happy now?" Kate glared at him through her rearview mirror as Dom remained silent in his seat, not daring to get caught in the middle of this.

"With someone working below you? You know what, I _pity_ you, Katherine Beckett. I've never- even _this_ is a whole new low you're sinking to."

Beckett pulled up to the curb – they'd arrived at Jenna's apartment. She killed the engine, and Dom hurriedly took off his seat belt.

"I think I'll head up first, let the two of you… talk things over."

Dom practically scrambled out of the car, taking his equipment up with him. As he slammed the door shut, Beckett slumped in her seat. Taking off her seat belt, she turned to face Castle.

"Why do you even care, Rick?"

"Why do I care? Because whether I like it or not, _you're _leading this case! And in case you haven't noticed, Tyson is targeting_ my daughter_. I need to know that you can focus on the case instead of your boy toy. I've had personal experience knowing how easy it is to distract you, remember?"

"Whatever arrangements I've made with Dom–"

"Is none of my business, I know, but when it interferes with your work, when it gets in the way of Alexis' safety, then it becomes my business."

His steely eyes stared back at Beckett, hard and focused.

"It hasn't and it won't," she replied in a clipped tone, meeting his gaze evenly.

For a few moments the car was silent except for the sounds of their labored breathing as they continued their little staring match. At length, Beckett broke the silence.

"Look, Rick, could you just give me a chance and let me explain myself?"

"Explain… Kate, I've moved on. You're too late, I don't care for your explanations anymore," he said dejectedly. "All I care about right now is getting Tyson."

"Fine," she whispered, hurt by how little he now cared about her. True, his daughter was in danger, and that was his first priority, but still it hurt. Even though she knew that he didn't owe her anything, or that she had no right to expect him to give her another chance, hearing his words made it more final somehow.

And that hurt.

"Castle, the both of us want to get Tyson. Neither of us can do it alone – our best shot at him is by working together. I can't have you and the boys disrespecting my authority just because you're still mad at me."

Castle remained silent, staring back at her passively.

Sighing, Beckett continued. "Look, I need your help, okay? My team and I spent years studying and profiling Tyson, but none of them know him like you guys do. If we want to catch him before… before _anything else_ happens, we're going to need to work together – _all_ of us, as a team. So can we please just call truce or something, at the very least just while we're working on this case?"

It would have been so easy to freeze her out. He knew that Ryan and Esposito would stand with him.

But Beckett was right. In order to stop Tyson, they needed each other. He could take the high road. He'd moved on, after all, and Castle would like to think that he was more mature too. He would behave like an adult and put aside their history, all for Alexis' sake.

"Truce," Castle declared, sticking his hand out. Beckett immediately shot her hand out to shake his, but he pulled back, warning her, "Just while we're working this case – I'm doing this for Alexis. I've moved on and put our past behind me, but this is far from over, and you are far from forgiven."

Beckett reached out to shake his hand firmly, sealing their deal. She gave a short nod, telling him, "I understand. Now let's get Tyson."

* * *

When Castle and Beckett headed into the crime scene together, it was as though the three years they'd spent apart was an ice cube held under a blowtorch, melting away quickly. They'd both changed in their own ways, but when put together, things just seemed to fall seamlessly into place.

Dom headed to greet them by the door, eyeing them nervously. "Erm, do you want to take a look around first or should I run down the scene based on the detective's notes?"

Pausing in the common area of the living room, Beckett said, "Give me the basic run down." Castle, too, stopped beside her, looking around the living room while listening to Dom's rundown.

"Roommate came in through the front door there," he said, pointing through the door they came through, "at around three am, switched on the lights and saw Jenna lying on the floor by the couch. She came closer, found Jenna dead, screamed and ran out, basically leaving everything untouched. She then called the cops, who came over and sealed the crime scene."

Looking up from his notebook, Dom pointed in the direction of one of the bedrooms, telling them, "That's Jenna's room through there, and the other room belongs to Brianna. Only other exit is the fire escape through there. None of the windows or locks have been tampered with, so we think Jenna might have let him in. The whole place has been wiped down – CSU didn't find any fingerprints besides Brianna's, which were on the front door and table over there. The couch and surrounding floor has been completely cleaned with bleach, so we think that was where the struggle took place, after which he attempted to destroy all DNA evidence."

Beckett dismissed him with a nod, and he went off to do his things. He was already used to Beckett's method – after getting the basic run down of the crime scene, she'd set the team to work while she walked around, quiet most of the time as she observed the scene and absorbed the details.

"So, what are we thinking?" Castle stepped in, looking around the apartment as well, trying to pick up on the story that might have played out. Wisps of scenarios floated by his mind's eye, distorted fragments of what might have happened.

_Jenna lets him unsuspectingly. He smiles while talking to her, putting her at ease. She turns her back and he strikes, but she must have sensed something wrong, so he didn't manage to completely over power her. They struggle by the couch and she gets the bruises on her arms. _

_The adrenalin pumping through her system isn't enough to overcome his brute force and the element of surprise. He murdered her, but it didn't sit right with him. Her hair color was __**wrong**__, but it was necessary. He would fix it soon enough. _

_Tyson wandered around the apartment at ease, the knowledge of not being interrupted sitting nicely in his mind. He'll have to drag her body to the bathroom, dye her hair. The kitchen sink would be closer; maybe he used that instead. _

_While the dye worked, he would have time to clean up the place. Scrape the underside of her nails clean so that there would be no evidence; wipe away all thumbprints and douse the site of their struggle with bleach. _

_He washed off the dye and set her in place. Collecting his things, he'd pack them once more into his bag and leave, all the while leaving her neighbors none the wiser of his deeds. _

_But this was Tyson, and he was sending out a threat. He couldn't afford to let this go unnoticed. He'd want the challenge and threat to be issued loud and clear. But at the same time, he'd want to play with their minds – leave them enough to send them panicking but not enough to confirm his identity. _

_Tyson would have left something incriminating behind, something only we'd know. _

"Somehow Tyson knew she'd be home alone, so he had plenty of time to plan out the details," Beckett started, heading to the front door. "Jenna let him in, he must be dressed as something inconspicuous,"

"A postman delivering a parcel, or repairman," Castle supplied, heading over to join her by the door. He continued, "They come in and she shuts the door. He talks to her, putting her at ease. Suddenly she remembers it's a Sunday and finds it strange that he's working."

Beckett picked up the story as Dom headed over, intrigued by how in sync the two of them were. "She makes an excuse, probably heading to her room to make a call to someone, but he strikes."

"They scuffle by the couch and make a mess," Castle narrated the scene that played in his mind, "he kills her, but it didn't sit right with him, so he dyes her hair."

"He sets her by the side and begins cleaning up, removing all evidence that might link us back to him. When he's done, he washes the dye off, and positions her over here," Beckett gestured at the floor by the couch.

"He would need to pack his things and prepare to leave. But before he goes, he'll leave us something, like a calling card," Castle said grimly, heading back to the front door with Beckett behind him.

"Okay, so he walks toward the door and pauses. He looks back at the apartment and sees…" she trailed off, surveying the apartment as Tyson would have. With Jenna being an Art major, the apartment was cluttered with sketches and paintings. There was a lot to take in. Castle and Beckett let their gaze scan pass the apartment, waiting for something to stand out and grab their attention.

Dom had been trailing the two of them this whole time, absorbed into the story that they had spun so effortlessly together. He wanted to ask if they realized that they were in fact finishing each other's sentences, but decided against it. Better not break their rhythm just yet, if ever at all.

When he and Beckett had started their friends with benefits arrangement, it was out of convenience and rationalizing. They were both consenting adults who were too busy for a real relationship. Beckett had made it clear from the start, the moment either of them developed any sort of feelings of attachment, it was over.

There were no strings attached, and their personal and professional lives never crossed over. When the others on their team had found out by accident, there had been ribbing and teasing. But with both Beckett and Dom acting professional on the job, there wasn't anything for the others to complain about.

And so their arrangement continued. But if Dom were to be honest, he suspected that he might be developing feelings for Beckett. But it would never have worked out between them, even if they hadn't been sent to New York. But now that they were here, Dom could clearly tell that he never stood a chance, no one ever would.

The chemistry between Castle and Beckett was something he'd hardly ever seen in real life. She lit up and got all excited with him. Their minds and thoughts were so in sync that they hardly had to wait for the other to catch up.

"That sketch!" Both Castle and Beckett exclaimed at the same time, pointing at a piece of paper by the kitchen island.

The three of them walked over to scrutinize a sketch of a castle by the cliffs. Beckett picked up the piece of paper with her gloved hands, looking at it in detail

"There, the 'A' of her initials, it's a little smudged," Castle pointed out. Beckett nodded, agreeing with him as she passed the paper to Dom, telling him, "See if you can dust for prints. We'd have to compare and rule out Jenna's fingerprints, but I'm pretty sure Tyson's prints will be there too."

Dom took the sketch and laid it on the table, collecting his tools from his bag. He dusted the paper, and soon enough fingerprints began to emerge, becoming visible to the naked eye.

At length, Dom announced, "We've got a few different sets of fingerprints. Most of them are found a few times on the paper, suggesting the owner of those prints to be Jenna. I'll have to get her fingerprints from the ME's office before we can officially confirm that. But there's one distinctive print that stands out from the rest, and it's right over the 'A' like Castle suggested. I'll lift all the prints and upload it to our system."

Dom started with the fingerprint over the 'A', scanning it quickly with his phone. While waiting for their database search for a matching fingerprint, Dom began scanning the other fingerprints on the paper as well.

Just as he finished uploading all the fingerprints into the federal database, both his and Beckett's device chimed with an alert.

There was a match.

* * *

A/N: Before you guys jump down on me for calling truce so quickly between Castle and Beckett, remember what Castle said. It's still far from over - they're not just sweeping everything under the rug. Review! :)


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Yadda yadda yadda, the case sort of ran ahead on it's own, yadda yadda yadda, Beta by Diana! :)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Jerry Tyson had been inside the apartment – his fingerprint placed him at the crime scene. It was time to unleash the hounds onto his trail. Beckett pulled out her cell, calling her Federal team at the Twelfth.

"It's Tyson. We've found his print on one of the sketches here. Forget about finding other suspects, go through Jenna's movements on Sunday again – I want to know how Tyson got to her. Did the canvass turn up anything new?"

Beckett paused as the person on the other end of the line replied to her.

"Okay, well tell Lee to pick up the pace, but don't miss out anything. Have Ryan and Esposito start talking to her guy friend. Tell them it's not him, but press for more details about Jenna's life in the past week. I'll be heading back soon; her parents should be arriving in half an hour right? Fine, you can tell me about her vlog and the soup kitchen when I get there. I'm leaving Dom here, so please send him the list of tenants that need additional questioning. Thanks."

Kate hung up, her attention reverting back to the present company. She picked up the sketch with her gloved hand and sealed it into an evidence bag. "I'll bring this back to the precinct to for further processing. Dom, I want you to stay back and talk to the rest of the tenants on your own. Cooper should be sending you the list right now. See if you can find his accomplice, or if anyone saw someone suspicious yesterday. Show them Tyson's picture again; prod their memory if you have to. Let them know whom we're dealing with to ensure their full co-operation. Castle, you coming with me?"

"Yeah," he answered quickly, pulling out his phone to send a quick text to Alexis.

_The Feds found Tyson's fingerprint at the apartment. Please be careful._

They'd have another conversation regarding the additional security when he saw her later that night. Maybe now Alexis would be more receptive to his appeal.

* * *

Ryan and Esposito were comparing notes with her team when Beckett and Castle arrived at the Twelfth. They headed over, joining the group. Beckett greeted them briefly before asking, "Anything?"

"Her vlog turned out to be quite informative. Brianna did most of the talking, but the two of them shared screen time together. They mentioned the air conditioning going out two weeks ago, but it's been fixed since last week. Jenna mentioned Brianna's trip briefly, so anyone who saw their vlog would know that she's alone this weekend. We're tracing the IP addresses that have been frequenting their vlog recently, but the list is still pretty extensive. Brianna was very outgoing, so they've got quite a number of people following their updates," Grey told her.

"What about the computer? Was there an opportunity for Tyson to pose as a repairman to get to Jenna?" Beckett asked the boys.

It was Ryan who answered her. "No, we spoke to Sam about it, he said that he had a friend who would fix the computer for her, but they hadn't got to it yet. According to him, there had been nothing out of the ordinary throughout the past week."

Just then the elevator chimed as its door opened, and the group unconsciously looked over as one. A uniformed policeman was escorting a distraught looking couple. They could see the similarity in features between Jenna and her mother. Her parents were here.

Beckett watched on as they were escorted to the break room for a more informal setting and handed cups of coffee.

"Okay, I'm going to go talk to Jenna's parents. Can you guys continue digging deeper? We need to find out how 3XK got to Jenna and where he is right now."

The group nodded their assent, prepared to get back to work. Only Esposito crossed his arms and said, "You've got your Fed monkeys to do that. I'm sure you guys are more than capable of handling that on your own, right?"

"Look, I need to go talk to Jenna's parents right now, and we all need to catch Tyson, so I'm not in the mood, nor do I have the time to entertain this. I get that you're mad at me and that you dislike me, I'm fine with that. But I'm leading this investigation, and whether you like it or not, when your supervising leader tells you to do something, you'd better damn well do it. Otherwise, you can have the honors of informing Castle when his daughter ends up being Tyson's next victim," she said heatedly. Beckett hadn't wanted to give him a public dressing down, but she couldn't afford to tolerate his childish behaviors anymore.

Her federal team quickly dispersed as Esposito stalked away, leaving only Ryan and Castle there with her. Sighing, she asked, "Look, can you guys try to talk to him about this? At least do this for Alexis' sake. None of us want to hand Tyson another opportunity to strike again."

Getting small nods from the two of them, she turned and headed to the break room, bracing herself to let Jenna's parents know that the Triple Killer had murdered their daughter, and they still weren't any closer to catching him.

* * *

Ryan and Castle found Esposito upstairs, taking out his frustrations at a punch bag in the gym.

"What the hell, man? Neither of you could stand up with me to Beckett? I'm the bad guy now?"

His less than pleasant greeting was followed by three quick hits to the punch bag as Ryan and Castle warily approached.

"It's not like that, bro," Ryan told him, standing behind the punch bag, bracing it in place for his partner.

"You sure about that? Cause you seem all too happy to welcome her back. She left us three years ago with no explanations. Nothing, alright?! Beckett didn't even bother to keep in touch with us!"

"She kept in contact with Lanie in the beginning, didn't she? I'm sure she had a reason for leaving," Ryan supplied weakly.

"She _left_ us, okay!" Esposito repeated, punching in quick successions. Wiping off the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, he turned to Castle, asking him, "How can you even be so nice to her? She broke up with you three years ago, and now she's back with a new team and possibly a new boyfriend, yet you're not tearing her to pieces! Man, if I were you, I would have torn her to pieces the moment I saw her."

_In that case I guess it's a good thing the boys don't know about the failed proposal. Esposito would've shot her on the spot if he knew,_ Castle thought. Instead, he replied, "I've moved on, man. Life goes on. Whatever Beckett does in her personal life right now is of no concern to me."

"So she's together with that Dom guy?

Castle pursed his lips. Should he withhold that information from the boys? They would find out soon enough – after all, they're detectives.

"They're not together as a couple, if that's what you're asking," he replied diplomatically.

"But they're sleeping together?"

Castle's silence was all the answer that he needed.

"And you're fine with that?!"

Castle shrugged, telling him, "Was I happy upon finding out? No, I wasn't, but it's her life, man. Right now, my only focus is Alexis' safety, and catching Tyson."

Ryan took that as his cue to step in, saying, "Come on, we're all still angry at Beckett to a certain extent, but I'm not going to let it affect my work. At least do it for Alexis."

Ryan could see his partner wavering. Bringing in little Castle was the way to get through to Esposito. "Look, if doing this for Alexis isn't enough of a reason on it's own, think of it this way," Ryan continued, "the sooner we catch Tyson, the sooner Beckett and her team leaves."

Both Castle and Ryan were looking at him with wide, expectant eyes. At length, Esposito groaned. "Fine, man, you guys win. But I'm only doing this for Alexis!"

* * *

Beckett was still talking to Jenna's parents when the boys returned to the bullpen with Castle. They headed to the meeting room, checking the progress of Beckett's team, helping out wherever they could.

By the time Beckett got to the meeting room, all five of them were hard at work. Beckett gave herself a small smile, relieved that Ryan and Castle managed to get through to Esposito.

Beckett joined them, each doing their own work silently. They worked individually, but functioned as a team. At around noon, Lee returned with his team of agents and officers. It was time to compile evidence and go through all the interview material.

"I think I might have something here, boss."

Beckett headed over to stand by Lee as he continued. "One of our agents at the soup kitchen managed to interview some additional frequenters that the detectives missed out. Stinky Jones rotates between a few soup kitchens, so he wasn't present the first time Detectives Ryan and Esposito went round for interviews. We showed them a picture of Tyson, and Stinky Jones recognized him. He had sideburns and was scruffier looking, but he was pretty sure it was Tyson and that he was asking about Jenna discreetly, eavesdropping on her conversations."

"That's probably how he got to know her and where she studied," Beckett murmured. "How long ago was this?"

"About a week before the murder," Lee answered, referring to the notes in his hands.

"Alright, so we can focus the IP address search-"

"-to within that time frame," Ryan finished Beckett's sentence, tapping Esposito to join him as he headed out. "We're on it," he told Beckett.

They walked into Dom at the doorway, the agent being in a hurry to get in. "You're late, Dom, better have something good for me," Beckett told him.

"Good news, Beckett, I think I may have found his accomplice. Mark Green's been late on his rent for the past three months but just settled two month's worth of rent yesterday. I pressed him, and he finally admitted to bringing in an air-conditioning repairman on Sunday. No questions asked, he just said the man approached him offering money in exchange for entry into the apartment. He was desperate for the cash, so he agreed."

"But Jenna's air conditioning was fixed a week ago, Tyson would've known that if he did his research on her," Castle mused.

"I may have an answer to that," Cooper interrupted, ending the phone conversation he had been engaged in.

They all turned to look at him as he continued. "A friend of Jenna's just called remembering something from Sunday. She said Jenna mentioned a guy at the door who was over to check the gas system for the air conditioning before they hung up. Something about a manufacturing default in the batch of products. She didn't mention this earlier because she was still in shock at Jenna's death."

All the information relating to the case was coming in rapid procession. They were finally making progress with the investigation.

"That's got to be Tyson. Alright, search for costume rental places in town and we'll cross reference them with the IP results, see if we can triangulate where Tyson's staying."

* * *

A/N: I'm heading off for hols real soon, so I'll be trying my best to update as quickly as I can before leaving. Unfortunately this means I might not have time to reply each and every review, but know that I appreciate them all the same! That said, Please Review! :)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'll try to post chapter 8 by tomorrow :) Big thank you to my beta, Diana, for getting my chapters back to me so quickly even when I swamped her!

Disclaimer: not mine

* * *

"Grey, get the team and backup ready, we're going in on this place the moment we get an address. I'm calling DC to update them on our progress," Beckett said, pulling out her cell.

"I'll tell the boys to get ready," Castle told her, to which Beckett gave a nod of acknowledgement before he headed out.

By the time Ryan and Esposito returned to the meeting room with the results from the IP trace, Agents Grey and Lee had left. They quickly passed on the information to Cooper, who murmured a quick thanks before keying in the information.

Beckett pulled up the map onto the large screen in the room, watching as the results were slowly eliminated. All eyes in the room tracked the progress on screen.

"Dancing Ropes!"

"Jill's B&B!"

Both Ryan and Dom exclaimed at the same time as the other red zones on screen went away, leaving those two locations as the ones with the highest probability of being 3XK's hiding spot.

"Cooper?" Beckett asked, glancing at the agent who was keying in additional commands into his computer.

"No help here, Beckett. They're both an equal distance away from the same costumes rental shop," he told her with a frown.

"Your call, Castle. We'll hit both places at the same time, but the alpha team will go to the one that's more likely to be Tyson's hideout."

All eyes in the room were on him. Castle looked between the two locations and went with his gut feeling.

"Jill's B&B. The other one's too obvious. If I were Tyson, I'd leave a trail leading there, as a red herring, while I hide out at Jill's."

"Alright. I'll lead team alpha to Jill's B&B and Grey can lead team beta to Dancing Ropes. Better check out both places anyway. Let's move out."

* * *

Within twenty minutes, both teams were in position. The team leaders, namely Beckett and Grey, had gone over the floor plans of their respective buildings, planning for all possible escape routes. With everyone in position, Beckett gave the final command of a one-minute countdown before moving in.

All contact between the two teams would be terminated until the bust was over. If all things went well, one of the teams would be contacting Cooper with good news.

On her side, Beckett was leading the main team through the front. Esposito and Ryan flanked her, with Castle following behind them.

_Just like old times,_ Beckett thought to herself. She grasped her walkie-talkie, telling her team, "All agents stand by, we're moving in."

On the other side of town, Agent Grey gave the exact same command. They moved in quickly, kicking down the door and rushing into the motel room. They were greeted by the sight of a bleary forty-something year old man who had been startled awake from his afternoon nap

The rest of the agents went in, clearing the bathroom and checking inside the closet while Agent Grey questioned the man. He was just an out of town chef who came to New York for the chili cook-off that had occurred over the weekend.

No Jerry Tyson.

* * *

Meanwhile at Jill's B&B, Detective Esposito had kicked in the door, allowing Beckett to enter the room. Ryan followed closely behind her, with Esposito and Castle bringing up the rear.

The main room was empty, except for a lone laptop sitting on the bed, but they methodically checked through the rest of the place, finally gathering back in the main room.

Both Ryan and Esposito told Beckett the same thing. "All clear."

"Damn," Beckett said under her breath. She phoned Cooper to let him know Tyson wasn't at their place, and he informed her of the bad news from Grey's team. The three of them were looking at her expectantly, but a quick shake of her head let them know that the other team didn't have Tyson.

Castle had walked over to the laptop and pressed the spacebar. The screen lit up, showing a live feed of another blonde, seemingly asleep on her bed. After a few seconds, the video feed was cut off.

Jerry Tyson greeted them from the screen.

"Congratulations for finding this place, Castle. As you can tell, I'm no longer there, and you just met my second victim. One more redhead to go, Castle, and I can go back to blondes."

The video finished with Tyson's taunts, the screen fading to black as silence descended upon the room.

* * *

"You!" Castle rounded on Beckett, pointing his finger at her face menacingly. "This is all your fault!" He hollered, stopping inches from her face.

"Castl-"

"No!" he interrupted, "Don't _Castle_ me. _You _came in here, with _your_ new team, to catch Tyson. Where did all that _federal_ training go to, huh? Guess what, Beckett, this is all on you!"

_He's just worried for Alexis' safety and acting out,_ Beckett told herself. It took all of her training to keep a calm exterior. Glancing over at Ryan and Esposito, she saw that they were holding themselves together better than Castle, but only marginally, and it was because they'd had training in the academy. She could see the effort it took them to compartmentalize their feelings.

"Castle, I need you to go home to Alexis, _now_. If you're up to it, you can come back to the precinct in the morning," she said to him in a low voice.

Castle stalked out of the room without another word, Esposito hot on his tail. Ryan looked at Beckett sympathetically.

"Beckett, you know that Castle… He's just emotional now, he didn't really mean what he said. You know that, right?" Ryan said weakly.

She shrugged non-committally. "I'm heading to the precinct to hand the laptop over to our tech guys, see what they can get. You coming along?" she asked, crossing over the room to shut the laptop screen, picking up the device.

"Yeah, sure, I'll ride with you."

Beckett gave him a quick nod of acknowledgement, pulling out her walkie-talkie once more. "Tyson was here, but he's long gone now. Get a team up here to sweep the place and see if they can find anything useful," she said. Static sound could be heard throughout the room for a few seconds before an agent's voice cut through the noise and replied an affirmative to her instructions.

Beckett and Ryan waited a while more before the first of a team of agents entered the room. Satisfied that they were getting to work, Beckett and Ryan headed back to the precinct.

* * *

"What do you mean, there's _nothing_ we can do now," Beckett gritted out. She was _this_ close to getting a stroke.

"Tyson's smart – he re-routed the transmission through a bunch of different locations and then encrypted them further. It'll take our system hours to get through. The soonest I'll be able to get you the second victim's location would be tomorrow. There's nothing to do now but wait," Dom explained.

Beckett had brought in the laptop half an hour ago, and they were currently working on getting information off the laptop based on the live stream of their second victim and Tyson's little pre-recorded message.

"There _has_ to be something that we can do," Beckett insisted stubbornly.

"Beckett, it's been a long day. The best thing that you can do right now is head back and rest, come back in tomorrow with a fresh mind to lead the investigation. Let the computers do their job," Dom told her gently.

"Take your own advice, Beckett, go home."

She whirled around, surprised to find Esposito in the doorway. She hadn't even realized that he had returned to the precinct. She sighed, defeated. She _was_ rather tired – more emotionally drained than anything else, actually.

"Fine, everybody head back. We'll start fresh tomorrow morning," she told them all. She went to collect her things, but Esposito called out to her once more before he left the room. "Lanie said to call her when you get off. Which happens to be now," he trailed off, not-so-subtly hinting at her to call the medical examiner, or else.

"Thanks, Espo. I'll do that."

* * *

Two hours later, Kate was standing in front of Dr. Lanie Parish's door, two bottles of wine in hand as she nervously waited for the door to open. Lanie _had_ told her to come over for drinks, but she couldn't help the hint of trepidation that plagued her throughout the past two hours. Oh yeah, Kate Beckett was a little afraid of what her best friend (ex-best friend?) would do to her.

The door swung open, and Kate immediately brought up the wine bottles, greeting her meekly. "I brought wine?"

Lanie stood in the doorway, arms crossed and staring at her, un-amused.

"You're not going to bash me over the head with this, are you?" Kate asked, gripping the wine bottles tightly. "They're the good kind – your favorite, in fact. We don't want to waste it."

"Katherine Beckett, Im'ma smack you," Lanie finally greeted, a smile breaking through her stern façade, enveloping Kate in a tight hug.

"Girl, you're all skin and bones! Shouldn't you be eating better food with your fancy-schmancy federal pay?" Lanie asked in that blunt way of hers, pulling Kate in.

Kate chuckled. "Oh Lanie, I've missed you so much."

It was good to know that some things were still the same.

* * *

Kate set the wine on Lanie's counter, looking around her best friend's new place. She recognized most of the décor, but there were quite a number of additional decorative pieces. It seemed that Lanie had been keeping busy the past three years, traveling to places and collecting memorabilia.

"I can't believe that you've been back two days, _two days,_" she emphasized, "and I only get a hello after asking Javi to pester you."

"Ehhh," Kate hedged, turning around to face her best friend who was walking over with two wine glasses, "You know Tyson's got us busy running all over the place. Plus I didn't know where we stood anymore. I mean, we hadn't talked for _years._" Kate shrugged, glad that she could be honest with her best friend.

"Yeah, Javi told me today was pretty tough," Lanie said sympathetically. She couldn't even begin to imagine how much stress Kate was under.

"Yeah? Well Javi kinda hates me." Kate sunk into her seat, mindful to keep her glass upright as she toed off her shoes and crossed her feet.

Lanie shot her a _look_ as she settled into her own seat.

"Well, can you blame him?"

Kate smiled, savoring the sassy tone, the biting remark. She really missed Lanie – more than she had even realized. No one else had that unique Lanie-esque essence.

"No, I don't blame him. I kind of expected it – even I hate myself," Kate admitted, slowly sipping her wine. After a pregnant pause that allowed Kate's words to slowly sink through, Lanie started speaking softly.

"Sweetie, I _wanted_ to stand up for you when you left, explain to the boys why you chose to go, but I _couldn't_. Not when _I_ don't even know why you left New York! Kate, enough's enough. What the hell were you thinking three years ago? I want to know why the hell you went to DC, leaving us on such bad terms."

"I went to DC for this," Kate murmured into her wine glass, looking at a spot on the floor.

"What, you went to DC so that you could ruin your relationship with your whole team?"

Kate finally looked up to Lanie, holding her questioning gaze.

"No, I went there because of 3XK."

Lanie sat up, setting her wine glass on the coffee table. She didn't want to be occupied with any form of distraction, wine included.

"Hold up, girl. You better start from the top."

* * *

A/N: You guys didn't expect Tyson to be caught so soon/easily, right? And Lanie finally makes an appeearance! :) Review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Last chapter before I'm off. Once again, thanks for the reviews for the previous chapters, I'm sorry I couldn't reply them (yet)... Here's your warning for profanity in this chapter - not sure if it's allowed in T-rated stories, but i'm just going to go with it. Beta-ed by Diana :)

* * *

The room remained silent for a few minutes after Kate finished her story. She looked expectantly at Lanie, who had yet to say a word. It was very uncharacteristic of her.

"Kate… Why didn't you tell me this from the start? And regardless of that, going to DC for 3XK? That may have been one of your reasons for leaving New York, but why couldn't you bring Castle along?"

"He wanted more, and I _wanted_ to give him more out of life. Chasing Tyson's shadow would've-" Kate broke off, stopping herself. She'd gone over this in her mind too many times to count. Kate sighed.

"He deserved more than that, Lanie."

"What are you talking about, Kate? Three years ago, that man would've gladly followed you to the ends of earth! Do you know that?!" Lanie pushed.

Kate exploded. "I know, okay! He proposed to me!"

"What?!" Lanie asked, looking shocked. "Why is this the first time I'm hearing this? Why didn't you mention this before?!"

Kate got out of her seat and began pacing about.

"I kind of didn't want to bring that up."

"Wait, is this where you got the whole 'Castle wanted more, and I couldn't give it to him, so I decided to go to DC alone' thing?" Lanie mimic-quoted Kate's words back to her.

Kate gave her a look of exasperation, flopping back down onto her seat. She groaned tiredly. "Look Lanie, I don't want to talk about it, okay."

"Okay, I'll back off for now, but you _know_ you gotta tell the boys and Castle soon. They deserve to know that."

Changing topics, Lanie asked the next biggest question on her mind. "Why didn't you keep in touch? I know that we're both busy, but at some point it was just radio silence from your end. I lost my best friend, Kate," she trailed off, some of the remaining hurt and insecurity showing through. "And the boys? Kate, they felt abandoned – you really hurt them, and they didn't even know what they did to deserve that. I can't even imagine what Castle must have gone through."

"I'm sorry, Lanie. I… I missed New York and my life here with you guys so much. I guess eventually it was just easier for me to stop trying to keep up with your lives here. Out of sight, out of mind, you know?"

"That was a cowardly thing to do," Lanie told her, frank but gentle.

"I know," Kate admitted. "I'm not proud of it."

They refilled their wine glasses, halfway through the first bottle already.

"How…" Kate cleared her throat, trying again. "How was Castle? After I left…"

"Did he take it badly?" Lanie finished Kate's sentence when she fell silent. At Kate's small nod, Lanie answered. "Yeah, what did you expect? He holed himself up for a week. Alexis even returned to stay at the loft for a while, and the boys and I checked in on him frequently. Then one day he just returned to the precinct. Gates didn't kick him out, so he's been working with the boys ever since."

"Has he… dated anyone?"

"Not seriously, no," Lanie told her. "And even when he does date, it's mostly for events and things like that. He's been focusing more on his work, and he's gotten quite active with getting students and kids to start writing and reading more, volunteer work and stuff like that."

"That's good for him," Kate murmured.

"What about you?" Lanie asked. "What's this I'm hearing about you and one of your agents, Dom, was it?"

Kate grimaced, tilting her head to signal Lanie to continue with her questions while Kate drank more wine.

"Javi says the two of you are… casual partners?" Lanie settled for the only polite noun in her vocabulary.

"You can say it, Lanes, we're FBs. No strings attached, no mess involved. Until my stupid team blabbed it to the boys, that is," Kate said wryly.

"So how long have you guys been-"

"Fucking?" Kate supplied, the alcohol lowering her inhibitions.

"I was going with _friendly_, but that works too," Lanie replied with a smirk, raising her wine glass at Kate in a mock salute.

"Four months," Kate told her, referring to Lanie's earlier question. She waited Kate out in silence, and soon enough, Kate volunteered more information on her own.

"We solved a huge case, and went out for celebratory drinks. I was so proud of my team, but there was no one else to share the news with. I called my dad, but it went to voicemail, and I'd lost contact with you for over two years at that point. I finally realized how lonely I was. We were supposed to be celebrating _life_, but there I was, with nothing to celebrate. I got so drunk that Dom had to send me home."

Kate stopped herself at that point, taking a healthy swallow of wine.

"Anyway, one thing led to another, and when we woke up the next morning, the both of us agreed not to talk about it. About a week later we were hit with this case that was really complex, and it felt like we'd been flinging ourselves against the wall for days with no results. I was stressed out, and so was my team. Somehow Dom and I got together and decided to blow off some steam, and it helped. So that's how our arrangement began. No obligations, no attachments, no emotions, no mess."

"Well, you're both consenting adults and a girl has needs, so who am I to judge you, right? But you guys are on a break now, aren't you?" Lanie asked.

At Kate's silence, she repeated. "Kate, you guys _are_ on a break, right? Kate?"

Closing her eyes, Kate covered her face with her palms as she groaned out her reply. "I kind of slept with him yesterday."

"What? Has your brain been so food deprived that it's gone to mush?! New York? Castle? Any of those ring a bell? The least you should have done was to respect what you and Castle had, and at the very least put your activities with Dom on hold!"

"Coming back to New York and Castle and the 12th was the reason I went to Dom! I didn't want to think anymore, okay, I needed a distraction."

"Will you at least consider the idea now?" Lanie tried persuading her. She knew that Kate could be bull headed at times, so Lanie tried a different tactic. "Kate, do you still love Castle?"

"I don't know," Kate whined, "I didn't exactly leave myself with enough free time to think about it, okay! I've just been trying to keep busy all these while so that I don't have to face it yet. I'm still running, okay!"

"Well, whether you currently still love him or not, there was a time that you did, and you would have never hurt him like that. So listen to your best friend, and go talk to this Dom guy, let him know that your arrangement has been suspended until this whole thing is over."

Kate nodded along, too tired to even make her own decisions.

"Good. So what's this Dom guy like?" Lanie's curiosity has been more or less placated for the evening, so it was time to move on to lighter subject. Besides, Kate looked like she was about to fall asleep real soon and there was still gossip to be shared.

Kate laughed, noting the change in the atmosphere and thankful for Lanie's perceptiveness. "He's actually a pretty decent guy. Just too much of a workaholic to maintain a relationship."

"So he's the male you?"

Kate chuckled, replying, "Sort of, I guess. But he makes more effort to do things outside of work, I think. I immerse myself in work so that I don't have to think about other things, so I guess that's where we're different."

"And is he good in the bed?" Lanie asked mischievously, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at Kate.

"Would our arrangement have lasted until now if he wasn't?" Kate shot back, smirking.

Lanie's only answer was to roll her eyes and throw a pillow at Kate's head.

* * *

A/N: See you guys in two weeks(ish). And I've kind of accepted the fact that I won't be able to make the minimum word requirement for the Ficathon Challenge in time, but it was still a fun experience and I definitely plan to finish this story. Thanks for reading. Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: It's been ages, I know, and I apologize. Those of you still reading this story, thanks for sticking around. Beta by Diana, but I made some last minute changes so any mistakes you see are mine.

Disclaimer: still not mine!

* * *

Castle was back in the precinct the next morning. After Esposito managed to talk him down the previous evening, Castle spent the rest of his time contacting his personal security firm and hiring additional bodyguards for his daughter.

He'd admit that his hopes were up when they all headed over to Jill's B&B. He'd thought that he would finally be able to catch Tyson and put him behind bars. His loved ones would finally be safe.

When he found Tyson's message on the computer he couldn't take it anymore. Something inside of him snapped. To come so close, _so close_, only to find out that Tyson was still a step ahead of them - that had been hard to swallow.

He remembered telling Alexis the developments in the case or, more pointedly, the _lack_ of developments in the case. He hadn't wanted to worry his daughter too much; after all, it was his duty to protect her. But then again, she needed to know the gravity of the situation, and Alexis wasn't the sort of girl who liked to remain ignorant.

After hearing about the current situation, Alexis had finally relented to the additional security Castle wanted to hire. She would be sticking out even more than before, but she could see that her father was very worried.

Even though the back of her head still burned from all the stares she had received when she walked around campus with two uniformed policemen, and her ears still burned from all the hushed whisperings going on behind her back, it was a small but affordable price to pay for her dad's peace of mind.

She knew he hadn't been sleeping well, the worry eating at him. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked… haggard. There had to be more on his mind besides 3XK, but if her dad had chosen not to let her know what it was that was bothering him, it wasn't Alexis's place to hound him with her questions. He'd go to her when he was ready.

* * *

The bullpen was still empty due to the early hour, but when Castle got to the conference room, it was bustling with muted activity. The whole team was already there and hard at work.

Most of them were too busy and engrossed in their work, but Ryan spared him a glance and greeted him, calling him over.

"What's our progress?" Castle asked, looking around curiously, picking up on the little bits and pieces of what each member of the team was doing.

"We've identified the victim as Hanna Alexis Jordan. She's in her final year at NYU. Espo, Cooper, and Lee are contacting next of kin and arranging to bring her friends in for an interview. Dom and Grey went to check the place she lives but she wasn't there. They're checking the other possible locations, but nothing so far. Beckett and I are scrubbing through Tyson's videos to see if we can get any more information off of it. We still haven't found her body though."

"What?" Castle asked, bewildered.

"We're in the final stages of the decryption. The results should be ready in minutes," Beckett told him, walking over to Castle and handing him a folder.

Castle flipped the folder open, thumbing through the pages quickly before returning to the first page which he began speed-reading. "What's this?"

"Our notes and analysis of 3XK, and all the information we've gathered on Jenna and Hanna – places they frequented, events they'd attend, things like that. Let me know if there's anything inside there that sticks out to you, or if there's anything that you deem we should dig into a little deeper."

"I'll get right to it," Castle replied, giving her a quick nod as he began pulling out a chair. But before he could even begin warming the seat, another voice called out to him.

"Dad?"

Alexis' voice floated across the bullpen and into the conference room. She did _not_ sound happy.

Looking up, Castle was greeted by the sight of his daughter stalking over to the conference room, with her bodyguards trailing behind her. All _six_ of her bodyguards.

Alexis stormed in, furious at her dad.

"Dad, what were you thinking?! I can barely see where I'm walki-"

Alexis broke off midsentence as she suddenly spotted a familiar face as the whole room turned to look at her as one. Normally she wasn't one for theatrics, but this time, her dad had gone too far.

"Kate? Kate's back?!" she asked her dad, forgetting about the other thing she was mad about.

"Dad, when- why-" Alexis spluttered, having a hard time putting her thoughts into coherent sentences. "What's she doing here?"

"Uh, well, the feds got involved with this case, as you already know, and uh, Beckett, she uh, she got sent over to lead the case."

Alexis stalked over to where Kate was standing, memories of her broken hearted father jumping to the front of her mind. She remembered how worried she had been, how she had decided to return to the loft to keep her dad company, and before she could think twice, Alexis spat out what was on her mind.

"I should slap you for what you did to us three years ago."

Alexis's hands fisted tightly by her side, the force that she used to clench her hands great to the extent that they tremor.

"Consider this your only warning to stay the hell away from my dad."

The venom that coated her warning surprised everyone in the room. Beckett unconsciously took a step backward, looking at her with a thin layer of apprehension.

Alexis frowned, looking as though she had more to say to the agent, but she turned to face her father instead.

"Dad, a word?"

Alexis walked out of the conference room, her dad following closely behind. When her bodyguards made to follow them, Alexis bit out a single word. "_Alone._"

Her bodyguards stayed back, lingering in the hallway as father and daughter went in search for somewhere to talk.

Back in the conference room, the agents and detectives made a show of suddenly being busily occupied, pointedly avoiding looking at Beckett.

* * *

Castle and Alexis eventually rounded a corner leading to the storage room and stopped there. The walk over had given Castle enough time to gather himself and determine how he was going to deal with his daughter.

"Dad-"

"Alexis," Castle raised his hand to stop her from talking, telling her in a patronizing tone, "Count to ten."

"Dad, I just-"

Castle interrupted her, finishing his earlier sentence. "If you're going to behave like a three year old, tossing out threats and making decisions that are above you, then I'm going to treat you like a three year old."

Alexis took a deep breath as she flushed in embarrassment.

"It wasn't my fault, dad, I mean, Beckett-"

"You shouldn't be handing out threats whenever you feel like it."

"Wasn't what she did three years ago provocation enough?" Alexis muttered to herself, staring at the floor.

"What was that?" Castle asked, his tone suggesting to Alexis what she had said didn't go unnoticed.

He remained silent, letting her stew for a bit. When he deemed enough time had gone by for Alexis to come back to herself, he continued. "I know you're only looking out for me because you love me, but you don't have to go around handing out threats. I'm better now, I've learned from the past. I won't make the same mistakes twice."

Alexis' head shot up, staring at her dad.

"Won't you? Dad, I've seen you pine after Kate for years, going back to her time and again no matter how badly she's hurt you. And even though I know you want to stay away, you can't help it. Don't think I haven't noticed how distracted and tired you've been these past few days. I know 3XK's on your mind, but Beckett's partly responsible for that as well, isn't she?"

Castle looked forlornly down at his daughter, before quirking the corner of his lips upwards. "Shouldn't this conversation be held the other way round? Why am I always feeling like the recalcitrant child?"

"Da-ad!" she whined, glaring at Castle. It was one of his defense mechanisms, and Alexis has been around him her whole life to be able to detect when it was being employed. He always deflected or changed the topic whenever he felt uncomfortable, throwing in some humor in an effort to sidetrack the conversation. Sadly, it worked most of the time.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, dad," she warned, looking at him intently.

"Alright, alright. I hear you. Don't worry about it, okay? Just give me the chance to work it out on my own; I'll be better this time round. Now, I believe you came to the precinct with something else on your mind?"

Alexis crossed her arms in front of her and raised an eyebrow, giving Castle her best stare down as she remembered her original reason for dropping by the precinct that very morning.

"My _bodyguards._"

Castle waited in silence, encouraging her to elaborate.

"Dad, I agreed to the additional bodyguards, but I didn't know that would mean _six_ people surrounding me. I can barely see where I'm walking! They- they're like a… a human enclosure around me, my personal human wall, shielding me from all other human contact."

Somehow Castle's expression gave Alexis the impression that his whole point _was_ to shield her from all human contact.

"Call them off, dad. You _have_ to cut down some of them."

Alexis stepped closer to her father, looking around nervously before she continued. "Especially that lady, Roxy, the slightly larger one, she's got crazy eyes, dad!"

Castle looked down at Alexis in confusion. "But Roxy's the best, she came highly recommended by the agency."

"She's scary, dad!"

Sighing, he gave her a look. "Isn't that the whole point? For her to scare off other people? This way, she's already downsizing the number of people that your bodyguards will have to protect you from. You know, eliminating the weak and all that," Castle finished, smiling happily.

"Roxy stays," he tells her decisively.

Alexis groaned, realizing that her dad wouldn't budge on that choice. "Okay, fine, but the others all go. Even the NYPD uniforms, _especially_ the uniforms," Alexis added. When Castle shot her a curious look, she shrugged and elaborated. "What? Do you know how bad it is, walking around campus with two uniformed NYPD officers following you around everywhere? Who knows what the other students think about me? My reputation is in tatters."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, leave the theatrics to your grandmother. I don't care what the other students think; I just want you to be safe. You're keeping the NYPD officers, Roxy, and one of the guys. What about the tall one, with the crew cut hair? He looks like he can take down a tiger," Castle mused aloud, looking at Alexis to see what she thought of it.

Just then, Ryan popped his head over the corner, interrupting their little conversation. "Hey Castle, we've got the address for the body. You coming?"

Castle hesitated, looking uncertainly at Alexis. In the end, she made the decision for him.

"Go, dad, I'll be fine."

"You sure?" He asked, taking a few steps in Ryan's direction, getting ready to leave with him.

"Yeah, I'm sure, dad. Go get 3XK."

Ryan turned and headed back, Castle following closely behind. He threw out a quick "Keep your bodyguards!" behind his shoulder right before he lost sight of Alexis.

* * *

The four of them rode Beckett's car, with Castle in the passenger seat while Ryan and Esposito sat in the back. Castle had barely buckled his seat belt before his phone buzzed. It was a text from Alexis.

_Stay safe, dad. And that includes keeping your heart safe too! Ps. If you ever need a kickass bodyguard to protect it, you can always have Roxy. Just saying!_

Her little text put a smile on Castle's face, which didn't go unnoticed by Beckett. Catching her look, he gave her an all-encompassing explanation. "Alexis," he said, gesturing to his phone as though that explained everything.

His two thumbs flew across the screen of his phone, forming a quick reply to his daughter as Beckett drove them to their destination. The four of them rode in silence for a few minutes, each of them preoccupied with their own thoughts.

"So why'd Alexis drop by this morning? She seemed pretty pissed even before she saw…" Esposito trailed off, uncomfortable with bringing up the topic of Beckett and Alexis, and subsequently, their little _spat._

Castle quickly jumped in, turning his head to face the detectives sitting in the back. "She ahh, we had a, uh, slight disagreement regarding her bodyguards."

"So she's keeping them?" Ryan asked, thinking back to the last part of the Castles' conversation that he had overheard.

Castle's face fell reflexively, his disappointment showing through before he could reel it in. "Not all of them," he admitted. "We're cutting down the numbers – two of the people I hired, and two NYPD uniforms. Alexis doesn't like all the attention she'd be getting."

"Bro, she's going to get a bunch of attention regardless of how many additional bodyguards you hire for her," Esposito told him.

"Yeah man," his partner picked up, "I mean, turning up on campus yesterday with two uniformed officers already sealed her fate. The other students would be curious anyway regardless of how many bodyguards she has today."

"Surprisingly, that actually makes sense. I should have used that against her just now. Maybe I can get her to change her mind," Castle thought aloud.

"Sorry to cut things short, but we're here," Beckett announced.

And just like that, they lost the semi-casual atmosphere. 3XK's second victim was waiting for them.

* * *

A/N: Please review! On a side note, for those of you who haven't heard, CastleBinge is happening this Sunday. I'll be tweeting (amandaOtweets) along with the other Castle fans, so go check it out if you haven't heard of it, and spread the word!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Chapter 10! Double digits, yo :) Wasn't the season premier just absolutely amazing?! For those of you still reading this fic, thanks for sticking around with my story. Beta by Diana.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Hanna Alexis Jordan lay on the bed, just like in Jerry Tyson's video from the day before.

What they weren't expecting was the location of the body. 3XK had placed her in an abandoned shop lot. As the other agents and the CSU team filed into the otherwise empty space, Castle tuned them out, focusing on his surroundings instead.

Beside him, Beckett looked around, taking in the room as she gave off commands. "Dr. Lanie Parish has been notified to come and examine the body, so until then, no one moves the victim. Dust the place down, 3XK's careful, but dumping her body here suggests it was out of convenience, so maybe he slipped up and left something behind. Cooper, look up the last owner of this lot – I want to know if there's any significance or ties to anyone related to this case. Also check how long this place has been empty, and if their water has been cut off. I'm betting 3XK dyed her hair blond as well, so he must have needed water to wash off the hair dye."

Dr. Parish arrived amidst Beckett's delegations, exchanging a brief greeting with the agent before she headed to examine the body. Turning to face the other members of her team, Beckett continued, "Lee, start looking for witnesses. Dom, see if you can pull up any surveillance in the area that we can work with." As two of them left, Beckett addressed the last member of her team and the two detectives. "Grey, Ryan and Espo, oversee and coordinate with the CSU team, will you?"

Beckett joined Castle as they headed toward Lanie and their victim. "Why dump the body here? Why change his MO?" Castle asked.

"I don't know, Castle. Maybe he couldn't go near the campus after we interviewed security there. Maybe he was trying to slow us down – identifying the vic from his video wouldn't take long, so by leaving her here and making us look for her, he stalled our investigation by half a day," Beckett theorized.

By then, they had reached the medical examiner. "What do you have for me, Lanie?"

"Based on lividity, I'd say she was killed thirty six hours ago. Preliminary COD is strangulation, the ligature marks on her neck seem to be consistent with 3XK's MO. I'd say she was strangled with the same kind of rope as the other victims. There's a deep cut on her elbow, which I think she sustained while struggling with him, but there's no blood stain on the sheets, so if you don't find any blood nearby, I'd say that–"

"She was killed elsewhere before he brought her here," Both Castle and Beckett finished her sentence at the same time.

"I guess some things don't change after all," Lanie muttered under her breath as the two of them stood awkwardly in silence.

"I'm going to go see if the boys found anything," Castle said, walking away.

When he was out of earshot, the medical examiner said conversationally, "So I hear that you've met Little Castle."

Beckett snorted softly. "That fast, huh?"

"Oh you know me, I like to be in the loop. She's got some fire, huh?" Lanie tells Beckett, keeping her tone muted as she swabbed the victim's elbow cut and bagged the sample.

Kate replies wryly, "Yeah, a little too much fire," as she unconsciously strokes her cheek, feeling the phantom burn of fire from Alexis' threat.

"A lot of things changed in the past three years, Kate. If I were you, I'd come clean to them sooner rather than later," Lanie advised.

"Yeah, well, they've been mad for three years, Lanes. Let's just focus on catching 3XK. After all, what's a few more days?" Kate murmured.

"Yo Beckett, we found something," Esposito's voice floated over, and the two women looked up to see him walking over with Grey, Castle, and Ryan, a backpack held between his gloved hands.

And just like that, their little moment was over. Lanie gave the instructions to bag the body, and told Kate, "I'll find out more once she's on my table, and I'll keep you informed."

Beckett thanked her quickly before she turned to see what the boys found. "It's the vic's backpack," Esposito told her, holding it open.

Ryan reached in, pulling out items as he told Beckett, "Her wallet's inside, with her cards and money, a couple of books, and this notebook that's been used pretty extensively."

Curiosity piqued, Beckett reached for the notebook that had half of the pages dog-eared. "Seems like she wrote everything in here," Beckett mused, flipping through the pages slowly, trying to decipher Hanna's messy scrawl. Castle had unconsciously moved closer to Beckett, hovering over her shoulder to look at the pages of the notebook.

"Wait, wait, let me see that for a second," Castle cut in, reaching for the notebook. Since he had gloves on, Beckett handed it over to him so that he could have a better look.

"This address right here, highlighted in blue, it's the address for The Old Haunt," Castle told them.

"What about the other address?" Beckett asked, referring to another address on the page, highlighted in yellow.

"86 Bedford Street, hmm, sounds a little familiar to me but I just can't place it," Castle replied.

"Grey?" Beckett turned to the agent, but he was already on it.

"It's a bar named Chumley's. The building's been around since the 1830s but it got turned into a bar during the Prohibition period," Grey supplied, reading from the screen of his tablet.

"Chumley's! Right, that's why the address sounds familiar. It's another historic Writer's Bar down in the West Village; it's the biggest competitor – actually, the only competitor of The Old Haunt in that category. But what was she doing at both those places?" Castle asked aloud to no one in particular, flipping through the pages slowly, paying more attention to Hanna's notes, hoping the answer would be on those sheets of papers.

"I think I have the answer to your question," Ryan supplied, holding up a sheaf of test pads. "She's a final year Business student, it's her thesis – she chose to compare Chumley's and The Old Haunt, and how they've managed to stay afloat all this time. Contrasting the income of Chumley's that were mainly dependant on literary tours, and that of The Old Haunt's funding which were of a personal nature. I've got interview notes on the staff of Chumley's here but nothing on The Old Haunt."

Flipping to the last used page of the notebook in his hand, Castle told them excitedly, "That's because they're here."

Beckett reached for the notebook, which Castle handed over readily. Rummaging a few pages back, she could tell that Castle was right.

"My guess is that she hasn't had the time to sort out the interview notes from The Old Haunt?" Grey pointed out.

Nodding, Beckett showed them the page where the most recent notes had started. It was dated two days ago.

"Time to visit The Old Haunt," she said grimly.

* * *

Agent Grey had volunteered to stay behind and oversee the bagging and tagging of the crime scene, while Lee still had some witnesses to interview, so in the end, only Agents Cooper and Dom followed them to The Old Haunt.

The two federal-issued cars arrived at the bar in no time - it was just a stone's throw away from the crime scene, further solidifying Beckett's theory that 3XK dumped the body there out of convenience. And maybe Jerry Tyson was just trying to screw them over.

They exited the cars, heading to enter The Old Haunt. Beckett hung back, reeling as memories of a better time assaulted her brain. The team had spent so many evenings at Castle's bar – the perfect place to go and unwind after solving a hard case. They never had to worry about finding a table because Castle always kept one in the back for them. And sometimes when it was just the two of them, Castle would bring her down to the hidden office, and it would be like the rest of the world just melted away, leaving the couple in their happy little bubble underground.

Still attuned to Beckett as ever, Castle turned back to look at her just before he descended the steps. "Beckett, you coming?"

"You guys go ahead, I'll head down in a minute." And just like that, Castle turned and headed in. She couldn't help but ruefully think how easy it was for him to throw that line at her. The line that _she_ used to throw at him.

It just added to the mental and emotional pangs that she was still trying to recover from.

"Hey Kate, you alright there?" Dom had discretely sidled up to her side, fiddling with his tablet to keep up a ruse.

Wow, even Dom had picked up on it. Was she really that obvious?

Clearing her throat, Beckett stood a little taller. They didn't do these kind of things – they've always kept things strictly professional on the job, and neither of them ever had emotional interest in the other party. This made her feel all kinds of awkward.

"I'm fine," Beckett's reply was terse, a product of her efforts to bottle down her emotions that had been stirred up by old memories.

Dom pulled away, heading for the stairs and she felt a twinge of guilt. "I just… This place brings up old memories," she explained, hoping that Dom could tell she was giving up that little bit of information to make up for her short reply earlier.

"It wasn't my place to ask anyway, you just looked like you could use a friend," he told her.

Beckett inhaled deeply, walking over to him. Might as well do this now. "Dom, I know you mean well, and I appreciate it, I really do, but we agreed to remain professional on the job, to keep the personal things from spilling over."

"Beckett, colleagues can care about one another, you know. Just don't read into it too much."

"I think we should put our arrangement on hold," she blurted out before she could lose the courage.

Dom remained silent for a beat.

"Yeah, can't say I didn't see that coming," he said, ruffling the hair on the back of his head. "Don't sweat it Kate, it was no strings attached with no commitments involved. For what it's worth, though, I hope that you can be happy once more."

"You too, Dom. You're a good man, and I'm sorry if this is unfair to you – "

"None of that, Beckett. We were both consenting adults, and now that our arrangement has run its course, it's done. I'll see you inside, boss," he told her, shifting back to work easily, leaving Beckett with a departing pat on the shoulder.

She stayed on for another ten seconds, collecting herself and compartmentalizing her thoughts and emotions. She had work to do.

* * *

By the time Beckett got inside the bar, Ryan and Esposito were almost done with interviewing Tom, the bartender. The rest of the personnel cooperated readily with them, giving full answers to all their questions.

Hanna had gone by the bar a few times, working silently on her laptop in one of the booths. It wasn't until a few days ago before she started approaching the staff and interviewing them. In fact, on her last visit, she had asked if it was possible to get in touch with the owner of the bar.

A waitress remembered seeing her leave alone two nights ago, at around five thirty. Dom headed underground to collect the security footage from the manager of the bar. The rest of them headed outside, to see if the perimeter of The Old Haunt would yield anything.

They split up, covering different areas. It wasn't long before Beckett called out, "Found something!"

The others headed over quickly to see what she had uncovered. Beckett had taken out a swab kit and was taking samples of a rusty-red stain on the edge of one of the dumpsters.

"Based on the victim's height, this sharp edge of the dumpster would correspond with the deep gash on her elbow, especially if she was trying to pull at the cord 3XK strangled her with as they struggled," she explained.

"There's more here," Castle told them, gesturing to what looked like some bloodstains on the wall and on the ground a few feet away.

They took more samples, and Beckett handed them all to Cooper, who sealed them all in a large zip lock bag after he tagged them.

"The lab should be able to confirm if it's the victim's blood within the hour if I bring it in now," Cooper told her.

"Alright, get that to the lab, then return to the 12th with the boys. Start sorting through this morning's notes when you get there. I'll stay back and wait for Dom and the security footage."

* * *

By the time Beckett and Dom returned to the 12th precinct, things were in full swing. Dom immediately set up his computer and began going through the video while the others updated Beckett on what they'd learned since that morning.

The bed that Hanna was placed on was a brand new masseuse table. They'd traced the model back to its manufacturer, who led them to the distributors in New York. After a few failed attempts, they'd finally found a salesgirl who remembered selling the masseuse table a week ago to "this random guy."

When she was showed a picture of Jerry Tyson, she told them, "That's the guy! Only now he's thinner than when the picture was taken. Is he dangerous?"

The agents interviewing her subtly shifted the direction of the conversation, prodding her to tell them about the sale. She remembered the transaction because he paid for it in cash. He had apparently just paid for the bed and the frame, and loaded it into a large white van. When pressed for details, the salesgirl unfortunately couldn't help much with the description of the van.

Before they left, the agents that interviewed the salesgirl gave her a card to contact them if she remembered anything else or to alert them if he returned to the store.

The agents had pulled up traffic cams in the area from when the transaction was made, but so far, they couldn't identify which van belonged to 3XK. The location he picked was right in the middle of an area with lots of deliveries and pick-ups, so there were many large white vans coming and leaving.

A second team had been dispatched to both the crime scene and The Old Haunt to interview their witnesses about the van.

"Hey Beckett, I found something," Dom called excitedly as he plugged in his computer to share his screen on the projector.

Everyone crowded around the large screen as the agent explained his findings.

"So none of the security cameras from The Old Haunt or neighboring shops have a clear view of the alley we were in, but check this out."

He pulled up one of the screens that showed the corner of the alley and hit play. They all watched the screen in rapt attention as Dom continued. "Timestamp puts this at five forty, so that's well within our window for 3XK to strangle Hanna right after she left The Old Haunt. That," he emphasized, pausing the video so the still featured a man wearing a hat low on his face giving the camera a mock salute, "is 3XK. His face is mostly hidden, but facial recognition put it at a 65% match."

"Do we get a shot of him leaving?" Beckett asked.

He continued playing the video to show them a shot of the van leaving the alley a few minutes later, but a passing lorry quickly blocked their view.

"Damn. He must have timed to leave with the lorry. Can we find a shot of him entering the alley?" Beckett asked.

"Don't need to do that," he told her proudly, scrubbing through the video to pause at the screen with the back corner of the lorry. He quickly explained, "While we can't see the van directly, we can catch a glimpse of its reflection on the glass window of this shop. We can't make out the car plate, but we can ID the van's model based on its tail lights. It's an old Toyota model – barely used on the road anymore and there's only one car rental shop in New York that still uses it."

"Good job," Beckett praised, picking up her jacket once more and taking the piece of paper that Dom hastily scrawled the address of the rental shop on.

Turning to Castle, she asked, "You coming?"

* * *

A/N: Fun fact-I did some research, and Chumley's the real life version of The Old Haunt. How cool is that?! I know it had to be closed for reconstruction in '07, but for the purpose of my story, it's open for business :) I'm gonna be picking up the pace of the story from here on (provided that I can find the time to write), but in the meanwhile, thanks for reading and please REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates - October's been crazy. And look, I know Beckett told Dom they'd put their arrangement on hold, but he's smart enough to deduce that it was OVER between them. And feel free to share your thoughts about my story, but the least you could do is to log in so I'd at least be able to reply you. You know, instead of hiding behind guest reviews.

As usual, Beta by Diana :) And the amazing Cover Art was done by Angie (Dtrekker)

* * *

Chapter 11

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle. We're currently investigating an active case and we'll need access to your records from last week. We believe this man here rented a van of yours, an old Toyota model." Beckett authoritatively pushed a mug shot of Tyson over the counter.

Taylor, the nametag read, reached for the photograph, his other hand reaching for the reading glasses in his pocket. Putting on his glasses, he looked closely at the photograph as his hand rubbed the bald spot on the top of his head.

"Yeah, I remember him. Hold on, I have the record right here." Taylor turned around and reached for one of the box files sitting in the cabinet behind him. "The guy asked for the cheapest model available for a white van with no markings," Taylor confirmed, flipping slowly through the records.

Beckett could feel Castle's impatience rolling off of him in waves as they waited for Taylor to hurry up with his work. Transferring her weight to the other foot, Beckett gestured for him to continue with his narration of the transaction.

"I showed him a few models, but he didn't want to wait for me to go into the specs, you know? Just asked for the cheapest one available for the week. Here we go," he proclaimed, pleased with himself for locating the appropriate form.

Beckett quickly thanked him as she took the form. She snapped the relevant pictures with her cell phone, forwarding it to her team. Putting her phone away, she took a closer look at the form as Castle crowded closer for a better look as well.

The handwriting on the form was neat – it was filled out in its entirety in upper case, with each stroke definitive and precise, corroborating 3XK's meticulous nature. He'd rented the van under the pseudonym _Alex Castle_.

If the photocopy of his driver's license was anything to go by, 3XK had somehow managed to procure one that was authentic looking. Beckett speed-dialed her team while she continued her quick perusal of the rest of the form.

"Hey Cooper, you guys received the pictures I've sent?" she greeted, pausing for only a second for their affirmation before she continued. "Run the phone number and address listed – they're probably bogus, but who knows, he might be leaving us a clue. We have the license plate of the van, so put a BOLO out on that. At the same time, tap into the city's traffic cams to see where he has been or where he is. It might help us anticipate his next move."

Beckett remained silent for a while as Cooper relayed some information over. She muttered a string of expletives under her breath before telling him curtly, "Fine, we're returning to the precinct now. I'll call the AGs office from there."

As she hung up, Beckett caught the curious look Castle was shooting at her.

"My boss wants a thorough update on the investigation, and maybe discuss strategy," she explained to him. Beckett had to break some other bad news to him, so might as well do it fast, just like ripping off a band aid.

"Without the original driver's license Tyson used, we won't be able to trace back to where he obtained the card, or at least, not easily. It's a lead that we can chase, but it's going to take time."

_Time that we don't have, _Castle's brain supplied.

Beckett seemed to understand that he caught onto the context she was implying, so she continued. "The other bad news is that the address listed on the form was Jill's B&B. We've had a detail stationed there since we found Hanna's body, so there's no way he's gone back there to leave us a new clue."

All Castle deduced from what she had said was that their leads were either getting cold, or would eventually lead to dead ends. "He's just toying with us now, making us go round and round in circles," he told her, frustrated with their lack of progress.

No matter what they did, it seemed that 3XK was still always one step ahead of them.

* * *

When they got back to the precinct, Beckett spent only ten minutes getting updates and giving new instructions to her team, before she fit in her earpiece and called the AGs office.

Castle pulled up a chair and took a seat next to Ryan and Esposito, keeping a discrete eye on Beckett who had walked over to a corner with her notes, waiting patiently as she was put on hold.

He overheard Beckett greeting her boss, diving into business right away. She was professional and efficient, giving her boss a thorough update on the events in New York. She remembered all the details, reciting them by memory – the notes in front of her an unnecessary prop.

Castle had forgotten how good she was at this. Holding onto the details, putting the pieces together to form a larger picture. It was much like his storytelling process, only less flamboyant and more structured. She was in her element, and it was a marvelous sight to behold.

He caught himself observing her a little too closely, and it reminded him of the early days of their partnership. Standing abruptly, Castle excused himself to make a cup of coffee in the break room.

For a while he was sufficiently distracted – his hands busy tinkering about, most of his actions a result of muscle memory. He tamped down the espresso beans, slotting the filter back and tightened it to the right. He turned on the hot water to let it warm, heading off to get a cup and the milk.

This routine was familiar to him, grounding and comforting at the same time. Pouring some milk into the pitcher, he began steaming it with the wand. Soon enough, the milk began climbing on one side of the pitcher. The rich, creamy smell filled the air as Castle flipped the switch to start pouring the shot of espresso.

The whiff of caffeine hit him hard, a contrast to the creamy scent of the milk but soothing in so many ways. His eyes wandered, seeking for a glimpse of Beckett through the blinds. Even now, his subconscious mind still associated coffee with Beckett no matter how hard he'd tried to stop it.

She was pacing now, her head downcast – she was probably staring blankly at the floor. She nodded at intervals, presumably receiving her instructions down the chain of command. He could practically picture the little frown on her face, the one that appeared whenever she was focused or paying attention raptly.

Castle startled as he suddenly felt a burn on his hand. Instead of paying attention, his mind had wandered and as a result, the milk foam had climbed over the rim of the pitcher, and onto his hand.

He flicked the switch on the espresso machine before running his hand under some cool water. His skin was a little pink, but the scald wasn't that bad. Castle quickly finished putting together his coffee. He walked back to the meeting room, greeted with the sight of Beckett bent over, jotting something down as she said goodbye.

Sipping on his latte, he was reminded of his mild mishap in the break room once more. _Better stay focused, Ricky, _his brain supplied. _You don't want to get burned again._

* * *

Beckett hung up with the AG office, plucking out her earpiece as she pondered how to go about this next part. Turning to face the room, she saw Castle entering, sipping on a cup of coffee. She sure could use a cup of coffee right now.

"Alright guys, change of plans," she said to the room in general. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Beckett commandeered their attention easily, a natural leader. "The AGs office isn't happy with the progress of this investigation, and due to the time constraint set by 3XK, our priorities have to diverge at this point."

Up until then, Castle's mind had let slip that his priorities and the Federal task force's priorities may not be the same. He was in this, first and foremost, to ensure Alexis' safety. They were here to catch 3XK and follow up with the investigation, bringing justice and closure to the other families.

Beckett continued, cutting Castle's train of thoughts short. "From this point forth, we're going to be splitting into two teams. Tyson's always been one step ahead of us; he's always had an upper hand on this game. So, we're moving Alexis to a safe house."

She paused, letting them absorb her words. "We take away his next target so he'll have to come to us. He'll be coming onto our turf; meeting us on our terms, and we'll be able to prepare our defenses. Best-case scenario: he comes to us and we take him out. Either way, we can at least ensure that Alexis gets to see next week."

Picking up her notes from the table, Beckett continued. "In the meantime, the second team will continue working the investigation. Cooper, you'll be leading the investigation from here on with Dom and Grey. We'll work out communication once DC gives me the details for the safe house. Lee, we'll be going to the safe house with Alexis sometime this evening, so be prepared."

Her team had their instructions, so Beckett turned to Castle, Esposito and Ryan. "I'll talk to Captain Gates and let her know of the changes. Do you guys want in on the investigation or the safe house?" she asked, trying to keep them involved.

"I go wherever Alexis goes," Castle told her easily. That was a given, so she turned to the boys. Ryan and Espo glanced at each other, silently communicating through looks. A second later, they nodded at each other. Ryan told Beckett their decision.

"Safe house."

* * *

A/N: Please review! :)


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